The Nightingale Nurses: (Nightingales 3)

Product Information

In 1908, at the age of 88, she was conferred the merit of honor by King Edward. In May of 1910, she received a congratulatory message from King George on her 90th birthday. Florence Nightingale: Death and Legacy I eventually became a mental health nurse, and fast forward to the present day, I work at Nightingale Hospital as a Ward Manager and to say I enjoy my role in this hospital is an understatement. Every single day in my role as a mental health nurse manager brings a different but unique experience, challenge, exhilaration, and an opportunity to carry on doing what I enjoy doing (supporting others and being supported). The experience is even greater when you realise that you have contributed to seeing a patient through their journey to recovery, and for that, I count myself blessed to be a mental health nurse. I encourage people to join the profession as it’s the best job in the world. Nursing is very challenging, but also provides so many opportunities for an amazing career – and most definitely will offer personal growth too! Characteristically, she had expressed the desire that her funeral be a quiet and modest affair, despite the public’s desire to honor Nightingale—who tirelessly devoted her life to preventing disease and ensuring safe and compassionate treatment for the poor and the suffering. Respecting her last wishes, her relatives turned down a national funeral. The “Lady with the Lamp” was laid to rest inHampshire, England.

To stop disease, she cleaned the hospitals and gave patients healthy food. She even looked after them at night, using a lamp to see in the dark. Why did you want to become a nurse? I wanted to become a nurse because my siblings and I had the privilege to care for our aged, grandparents who had dementia and cancer until their death. I also had an Aunt who died from a mental health-related illness. Due to the above, I wanted to do something that is challenging and that would make a difference in people’s lives. I am a naturally caring, curious person and I wanted to use this attitude in helping people to the best of my abilities. I have always had the innate desire to help people and care for them in times of need. I’m also blessed to have a wonderful mother from whom I learned so much. My mother is very caring and generous in her love for others, and caring for their needs.Throughout the U.S. Civil War, she was frequently consulted about how to best manage field hospitals. Nightingale also served as an authority on public sanitation issues in India for both the military and civilians, although she had never been to India herself. What inspires you? I am inspired by the kind words of gratitude expressed by my patients, families, carers and my staff. The kindness expressed encourages me to be the best version of myself, which in turn drives me to get the best out of my team.

I often ask myself: what about those who came before Florence? Do we do them a disservice, almost unconsciously dismissing them as not being ‘real’ nurses because they practiced before Florence Nightingale’s time? Ancient nursing schools Lytton Strachey was famous for his book debunking 19th-century heroes, Eminent Victorians (1918). Nightingale gets a full chapter, but instead of debunking her, Strachey praised her in a way that raised her national reputation and made her an icon for English feminists of the 1920s and 1930s. [87]However, Florence Nightingale should also be remembered for her skills as a statistician and because of this, she became the first female member of the Royal Statistical Society in 1858. She was able explain in diagram form that most of the deaths recorded in army hospitals came from disease, rather than from battle wounds and that disease could be controlled by good nutrition, ventilation, and shelter. Her diagram is now referred to as the “Rose Diagram.” It was a real breakthrough for those working with statistics and of course revealed in a very clear way, the absolute importance of good sanitation for the army and society. Nightingale also had “considerable skills in organising, leading and administration,” says Anne Marie, which allowed her to oversee Scutari Hospital and improve conditions. One of the first challenges on arrival in Crimea was finding supplies such as bed linen, nightshirts, bandages and food: “The supply chain was deficient, a bit like us trying to wrangle PPE from the government.” In recognition of Mental Health Nurses’ Day, we put the spotlight on our extremely dedicated, passionate and caring nursing team, and asked them to share what they love about mental health nursing. Below are some of the highly insightful responses we received.