![]() The hospital was severely overcrowded, there was a lack of ventilation and a defective sewer system. Ten times more soldiers died from illnesses, such as typhoid, dysentery, and cholera than from wounds sustained in battle. ![]() During her first winter in Crimea, more than 4,000 soldiers died at that hospital. Nightingale wrote a letter to The Times calling for a government solution to the poor conditions and care the soldiers were receiving. Major infections were a common and often fatal issue at the hospital. Upon arriving, Florence and her team found overworked medical staff, medical equipment, and medicine in short supply, poor hygiene practices, and no equipment to process food for patients. ![]() They were deployed to Crimea, where the main British forces were based. In 1854, she and a staff of 38 women, volunteer nurses that she had trained, were sent to the Ottoman Empire. Seeking out challenging opportunities−testing her skills and abilities.įlorence Nightingale contributed to the advancement of nursing and medicine during her work in the Crimean War. She was dedicated to educating herself in the science of nursing. When Florence entered the field of nursing at the age of 24, it was over the express wishes of her family. Nursing was not viewed as a profession and nurses were frequently not properly trained. Nurses were often former servants or widows who could find no other work and were forced to earn their living this way. While nursing is an honored and exalted profession now, this was not the case in the first half of the 19 th century. She felt called to be of service to others. Her feelings and desires followed a different path. As a woman of the upper class, Florence was expected to marry well and become a mother. Clarke showed Florence that women could be the equals of men. The family was visiting Europe when Florence was a teen and was introduced to Mary Clarke, an independent woman with whom Florence developed a long friendship. Her family moved back to England in 1821 where she was educated by her father. ![]() She was named after the city in Italy where she was born. Florence Nightingale – Challenging the Process Growing Upįlorence Nightingale was born into a rich, upper-class, well connected British family in 1820. For this very brief review though, I’m going to focus on a single practice, Challenge the Process. I found, as with most great leaders, that The Five Practices of an Exemplary Leadership® were all present with Florence. As the very proud son of a nurse, I wanted to look at how Florence Nightingale created such change in the nursing profession. I became interested in seeing how certain leadership practices came to light throughout history. In this next installment of the Learning Leadership from History series, I cover Florence Nightingale. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |