Florence Nightingale for Most People, the Name

Florence Nightingale

For most people, the name Florence Nightingale conjures up images of a gentle Victorian woman tending to wounded soldiers during the Crimean War. The Englishwoman's name has since become synonymous with the ideals of the nursing profession. To me, however, Florence is also a symbol of integrity, determination and courage.

Florence's achievements are even more impressive considering the social conditions prevailing in 19th century England. This was, after all, a time when women did not yet have the right to vote. Women during this era were expected to get married, have children and most important, to stay at home.

Florence, in fact, was luckier than most of her female peers. She came from a fairly well to do English family that could pay servants in order to shield their daughters from manual labor.

Though she was not expected to work, the Nightingales had high expectations for their daughter. They wanted the young Florence to be a socialite, to become the toast of English society through her balls and tea parties. Allowing their daughter to work in "dirty" hospitals among the ill and the dying was the furthest thing from their minds.

Florence, however, was seized with a passion to "do something worthwhile."

In her early teens, she found immense fulfillment in nursing the sick farmers in her father's estate back to health. Thus, over her parents' objections, Florence took charge of her own education. She obtained nursing books and studied them in secret. On her own, she visited London area hospitals to observe medical care firsthand and to augment her book-based education. She endured the derision from her own family, including accusations that she was being "immoral."

Throughout these trials, Florence showed her integrity by holding fast to her convictions. She believed in "doing something worthwhile" with her life. To the young Florence, her calling lay in providing care and solace to sick people. Because of these goals, she chose to defy both her family's traditions and the social conventions of the time. Her desire to help people would drive Florence to leave both her family and her home, to pursue nursing studies in Germany.

The fact that Florence Nightingale chose the more difficult path over the objections of her family and in spite of any risk of social ostracism is a great inspiration to me.

Of course, much has changed since Florence Nightingales time. Women are no longer barred from education or working outside the home, and nursing is no longer regarded as "dirty" labor.

However, in many ways, the challenges that Florence Nightingale faced remain.

As Florence Nightingale has shown, nurses must be more than medical personnel. Nurses continue to act as primary caregivers, providing patients with sources of compassion and comfort. They are often needed to act as advocates for the needs of their patients, a task that requires courage, integrity and determination.