Florence Nightingale
Uploaded by kutiekay on Apr 04, 2013
Florence Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820 in Florence, Italy. She was the younger of two children. Her mother, Frances Nightingale, came from a family of merchants and associated herself with people of prominent social standing. She tried her best to influence Florence to become more social but did not succeed. She was the type of person who avoided being the center of attention whenever she could. Florence viewed her mom was very controlling and this caused a strain in their relationship. Her father, William Shore Nightingale, was a wealthy landowner who inherited two estates when Florence was five years old. She was raised on one of those estates where her father provided her with an education. From a young age Florence showed an interest in philanthropy. She ministered to the ill and poor people in the village close to her family’s estate.
At the age of sixteen Florence was clear that her calling was Nursing, that it was her divine purpose. When she approached her parents about her career plan they were not pleased, they forbade her to pursue it. During the Victorian Era, a young woman of Nightingale’s social stature was expected to marry a man that could take good care of her, enough that she would not have to work. Florence did not want an ‘expected’ life; in fact she was against marriage. At the age of 17, she refused a marriage proposal from a gentleman that met the criteria. She was then given the chance to marry again at the age of 22, but after making up her mind for seven years she again said no.
Despite her parents’ objections, Florence enrolled as a nursing student at the Lutheran Hospital of Pastor Fliedner in Kaiserwerth, Germany in 1844. Although the conditions of hospitals during that time were poor, she was determined to make things better. In the early 1850’s after completed nursing school, Nightingale returned to London where she took a nursing job in a Middlesex hospital for ailing governesses. Being of her dedication to the job, her employer promoted her to superintendent after a year. Being a superintendent was very challenging position but she made it her mission to improve the conditions of the hospital and lower the death rates as well. Because of the heavy work load, her health was badly affected.
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