Running head: THE NURSE WHO CHANGED IT ALL

The Nurse Who Change it All The Impacts of Florence Nightingale on Nursing
Elizabeth N. Meston
University of Kentucky

THE NURSE WHO CHANGED IT ALL

Abstract
In this paper, I explored the life of Florence Nightingale and the contributions she made to the
field of nursing. She devoted the majority of her life to enriching the filed of nursing,
overcoming many adversities such as lack of support from her mother. Despite this, she did not
succumb to the negativity in her pursuits of becoming a nurse (Florence Nightingale, n.d.). I
have personally been largely influenced by her perseverance as well as her kind nature that was
demonstrated to patients that were placed in hospitals overseas. As a result of her exposure in
the Crimean War she came to understand the necessity of reforms needed in hospitals (Cohen,
1984). Her time overseas during the war further fueled her inspiration that also lead to reforms
in London for the nursing profession as a whole. Nightingale was an inspiration to many
individuals as she provided a new perception of nursing, compared the similarities between our
lives that have served as an inspiration to me as I hope to pursue a career in the field of nursing.

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The Nurse Who Change it All The Impacts of Florence Nightingale on Nursing
International Nurses Day is celebrated on perhaps one of the most important days for
nurses - May 12th - Florence Nightingales birthday (5 Things You, n.d.). Nightingale strived
throughout her life to change the way nurses were treated by improving the care of those in
hospitals. She was always a diligent worker who persevered through many aspects of her life
despite the doubts placed upon her. Nowadays, nurses require proper educations while back in
the day were often able to take up a job easily and thus were not respected due to their lack of
education (Florence Nightingale, n.d.). Her work through her early childhood and career
changed the industry of nursing into a respected profession through her life experience of caring
for injured and sick soldiers at war. As a result of all of her experiences, she was able to identify
various areas which needed to be reformed within the nursing industry. Florence Nightingales
perseverance and compassion towards her patients influenced me to pursue a career in the field
of nursing.
Early Childhood and Career
Florence Nightingale was extremely motivated in pursuing a career and furthering her
studies during her adolescent years and the beginning of her adulthood life. She was very keen
on learning foreign languages in her childhood as well as focusing highly on her studies of
mathematics (Selanders, 2012). Her abundance of scholarly motivation provided her with a
variety of options as she grew older and had the need for travel as a nurse. Nightingale and I both
share an inclination to immerse ourselves in knowledge; a vital component of the field of
Nursing due to the wide variety of information necessary to aid others in the profession. From
when I was a young child, I was always highly motivated to learn more about doctors and nurses
as I had an intense interest for someone of the age of four; an interest that continued on

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throughout my teenage and adolescent years. As Nightingale and I both share a large intellectual
motivation and perseverance, it can be assumed that we also share other traits as well, according
to the implicit personality theory (Verdeber, 2014). The similarities between Florences
intellectual abilities as well as other characteristics serve as a source of inspiration for me as I
study to become a nurse myself. Despite her motivation, Nightingales mother did not approve of
such a profession (Florence Nightingale, n.d.). Lack of support from her mother potentially
hindered Florences ability to pursue her career to the fullest. While she continued to pursue her
career throughout her adolescent and early adulthood years, there is no doubt that her mothers
absence hindered her confidence as she did not have the praise from such a close family member.
With my own pursuits of knowledge of the medical field, my mother and father always fueled
and supported any interests I had. As a result, I gained a support system to which I could turn to
if I had any adversities something that Nightingale unfortunately did not have available with
her mother. Family support is necessary when one goes after such a challenging pursuit such as a
career that is not deemed a profession at the time. Florence showed that even without full support
she still had the inclination and perseverance to go after such a far off career during her day and
age.
In addition to being highly motivated, Nightingale had to learn at a young age what it was
like to put others before herself. Similar to my childhood, Nightingale had to care for family
members that were not in the greatest state of health in her home (Florence Nightingale, 2015).
While Nightingale had to care for more than one individual, I gained the knowledge what it was
like to care for a sick parent as my mother became very ill in my mid teenage years. Through
helping to support and aid in treating my mother, I was able to gain more insight to what the
nursing field was like. Similarly, Nightingale gained experience caring for others in her home

THE NURSE WHO CHANGED IT ALL

which later provided resources for her future as she was familiar and exposed to the care that she
would later be administering in the war field. Without prior experience, Nightingales triumphs
may not have been as victorious as all of the work she was exposed to would not have served as
an example for her future work. Knowing that she overcame a multitude of adversities allows me
to adhere to the theory of self promotion as I use her life as an inspiration to fuel my pursuits in
the nursing industry. Nightingale overcame a multitude of issues between her career and family
background. She proved to me that anything is possible if I have the motivation and perseverance
to overcome challenges I may face later on.
Hospital Conditions
As her career began to jump start, Florence was able to learn the magnitude of help
needed in the nursing field. According to Cohen, (1984) the Crimean War proved to display the
need for reforms as the hospital barracks were infested with fleas and rats, among other
grotesque infestations and lack of sanitation observed by nightingale (p. 2). Before leaving to
help those in the Crimean War, Nightingales only experience caring for others was when she
was an adolescent. When exposed to the warzone, it is clear she utilized uncertainty reduction in
while observing the state of hospitals. Observations of the warzone allowed her to identify
specific changes that were needed, as well as serving as motivation to improve the healthcare
industry overall. After leaving the warzone, Nightingale proved to find her true inspiration and
purpose: to serve humanity through the prevention of needless illness and death (Cohen, 1984,
p.1). Her experience in the war proved the need for nurses in the war field to help aid in the care
of soldiers and to improve working conditions. The grotesque state of conditions for sick and
injured soldiers proved to be inspiration for change that she could provide. Her inspiration is
similar to the motivation I have to help aid those who are sick and injured both of us want to

THE NURSE WHO CHANGED IT ALL

change the state of certain aspects related to nursing. Nightingales experience overseas resulted
in further insight to the gravity of poor conditions for those in hospitals and the extent of change
needed involving the care of patients.
Hospital Reforms
Upon her return to London, Nightingale had an abundance of areas in hospitals that
needed to be reformed. During the war, she had found that necessary items for the care of
soldiers were scarce and poorly distributed (Cohen, 1984). When supplies to care for patients are
lacking, there is a diminished ability to be able to properly treat those who need medical care. As
a nurse she knew the importance of such supplies, however, hospitals were also lacking in other
areas that Florence thought were more profound. She thought that finding certain statistical
information such as; the number of patients in a hospital at the beginning and end of a year and
the number of patients admitted would greatly benefit hospitals (Cohen, 1984, p.6). Quantitative
data such as what would be collected from the number of patients would allow hospitals to gain
knowledge about their quality of care. Unfortunately, there was a flaw in Nightingales plan
statistics in that time were neither uniform nor consistently accurate (Cohen, 1984, p.6). She
had a great idea, however, the execution of collecting data that could so greatly improve the
quality of care would hinder such findings. Without a plan that could be replicated and executed
in each hospital in an identical way, the findings would be negated due to a lack of uniformity
there would be too much room for error. Changes found by Nightingale were a great start in an
era where top healthcare was not of the upmost importance.
Nightingales Impact
Florence had many great ideas as a result of travelling to help aid those during the
Crimean War. To thank her for the work done during the war, she was provided with a donation

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to help construct a School of Nursing Nightingale School of Nursing at St. Thomass Hospital
(Mohammad, 2014). With the money donated, she built the first nursing school that established
specific materials and lessons nurses needed to learn in order to adequately be able to aid those
in hospitals. The first school of its kind, Nightingales profound impact was indefinitely created
in a school that for years to come helped and continues to help teach those aspiring to become
nurses of what needs to be learned. Nightingales school for nurses impacts my life to this day as
it was the first of its kind, paving the way for nursing schools all over the world. Her impact
from travels and her own studies did not stop there, however. As a result of all of Nightingales
work, nursing was transformed into a respected profession (Selanders, 2012). Before any of her
travels, those working as nurses were treated in a degrading manner as there was no schooling
required to work a job as a nurse. The development of nursing into a profession provided those
who wanted to become nurses a higher sense of respect among those in the medical field as they
could not simply take it up as a job they needed to put time and work before pursuing it as a
job.
The impact Florence Nightingale had in nursing forever changed a large portion of the
medical profession fields. Florence had a great starting point for changes, many that were well
ahead of her time (Selanders, 2012). There was a need for changes in the medical field that
required more complex aspects - such as Nightingales idea for statistics. Despite this, changes
such as statistical evidence in the medical field are continually changing and inspired by those
first created by Florence. She had to overcome many adversities while changing the view of
nursing a source of inspiration for an aspiring nurse such as myself. Taking away aspects such
as her creativity, kindness, and perseverance fuels my inspiration to work diligently as Florence
did in order to succeed in the pursuit of the nursing profession as a future career.

THE NURSE WHO CHANGED IT ALL

References
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Cohen, B. I. (1984). Florence Nightingale. Scientific American, 250. Retrieved from
http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/case/biol675/docs/nightingale.pdf
Florence Nightingale. (2015). In Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved from
http://academic.eb.com/EBchecked/topic/415020/Florence-Nightingale

Mohammad, T. S., Florence Nightingale who raised nursing as a highly profession. International
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