The-Lady-with-the-Lamp
May 12, 1820 to August 13, 1910
I met Florence Nightingale when
I was ten years old, she was the heroine in a book I was given for my
birthday. I was so taken by her story
that she became the basis for that year’s public speaking topic and as a young
adult a role model for me as I trained to become a nurse.
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| This is the book that I read and click here to link to Amazon |
Florence Nightingale was born
May 12th, 1820, and 194 years later her example continues to
influence and motivate young women and men.
Florence was born into a family
of privilege with a tradition of taking on issues of social justice, her
maternal grandfather was the abolitionist William Smith.
As a woman she was expected to
marry well and Florence believing that God had a different purpose for her life
she repeatedly propositioned her parents to allow her to become a nurse. In 1851 they gave their permission and Florence
spent three months training in Germany before becoming a hospital nurse in
England.
The unsanitary conditions under
which wounded British soldier’s in the Crimean War were having to endure
resulted in the British minister of war seeking Florence’s helping. Thus the “Lady-with-the-Lamp” was born as
Florence Nightingale supervised a team of 38 nurses in Turkey.
A lady with a lamp I see
Pass through the
glimmering gloom,
And flit from room to
room
On England’s annals
through the long
Hereafter of her speech
and song
That lights its rays
shall cast
From portals of the past
A Lady with a Lamp shall
stand
In the great history of
the land,
A noble type of good
Heroic womanhood.
~ Longfellow
~ Longfellow
Upon her return to
England Florence established the Nightingale Training School at St Thomas' Hospital
in London where she trained nurses and influenced the operations of hospitals
in the human and sanitary care of the sick and injured.
In 2014 we can still see
Florence Nightingales influence in the training of nurses and the guiding principles
that under pin the operation of our hospitals.
In the mid 1950's Florence
Nightingales story set a young girl on her path to become a nurse and later a
social worker. Let’s continue to tell
Florence Nightingales story and motivate future generations of care givers both
young women and young men.
If you would like to
read more about Florence Nightingale please visit these websites:
Grandma Snyder
©2013-2014
twosnydergirls
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