Florence Nightingale

Question 1

During which time period did Nightingale work?

Answer 1

Industrial

Question 2

What caused Nightingale to change the care that patients received?

Answer 2

1. 1854: Nightingale worked as a nurse in the Crimea and was appalled at the conditions of the hospitals on the battlefield
2. Her training in Germany had shown her the impact of ad conditions and poor nursing could have on the health of patients
3. She used her own money to improve conditions in the hospitals in the Crimea
4. When she returned to London, she gave a report to the government about what needed to be changed
5. She had already proved that better conditions improved the health of patients so the government listened to her.

Question 3

What was the significance of Nightingale’s work?

Answer 3

1. Her methods eventually led top 50% drop in arm hospital death rates
2. Success was widely reported so people gave her money to help her open the first school for nursing in Britain in 1861
3. Nursing became widely professional and the role of nurses was valued more highly
4. She wrote over 200 books on nursing and hospital designs/organisation
5. By 1901 there were 68 000 trained nurses in Britain