Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole Flashcards
When was Florence Nightingale born and to what class of family?
- 1820
- Quiet upper middle class, which meant, which meant she was expected to marry than be educated
Where did Nightingale train, why and what was her position in 1853?
- Germany because training medical training as doctor for females was not yet offered in Britain
- 1953 –> Senior nursing position in London clinic
How did Nightingale come to work in the Crimea?
- Oct 1954 –> Minister Sidney Herbert sent a grp of 38 volunteer nurses including Nightingale as leader to Crimea, following
- After the Times reported on poor quality of medical care for wounded soldiers
Where were Nightingale and her team based?
Hospital in Scutari in outskirts of Constantinople
In what 4 ways was medical care in the hospital poor?
- Raglan had limited number of medical staff for space on transport ships for fighting soldiers
- Medical supplies had low priority
- Unsatisfactory staffing of medical services –> nursing orderlies were often unsuited for work
- Hospital was not designed for sick –> hardly any clean water available, primitive toilet arrangements
In what 4 ways did Nightingle improve the medical situation in Scutari?
- Reorganised kitchen and improved food for patients
- Cleaned wards and provided clean bedlinen
- Arranged school room and library
- Worked long hours –> did rounds after other staff had gone to bed
Despite Nightingale’s changes, in Feb 1855, what was the death rate at Scutari?
52%
What were the doctors’ opinions on Nightingale and her team? (2)
- Took their presence as criticism
- Did not like Nightingale’s forthright opinions and tried to send her back to England
What was the opinion of Nightingale at home? (2)
- Newspapers carried stories of her heroism
- Times organised fund of £30,000 to buy medical supplies
Who was the new PM, when did he come to power and how did this change medical care in the Crimea?
- Early 1855 –> Palmerston succeeded Aberdeen
- New war minister, Panmure, ordered Sanitary Commission to Crimea
When did the Sanitary Commission begin work and how did they react to the conditions at Scutari?
- Mar 1855 –> ordered a clean-up eg rubbish cleared, whitewashed walls
- Reacted w/ shock
What was part of the reason for the high death rate?
Noone clearly understood infection –> Nightingale herself blamed it on miasma (bad air)
How did Nightingale feel about the Sanitary Commission and how did they change the mortality rates?
- Welcomed their changes
- Mortality rate fell
When did Nightingale take a break from the Crimea, why and when did she return?
- May 1855
- Became seriously ill after after visiting Balaclava
- Returned to Scutari in Sep 1855
When Nightingale returned what did she complain about and how was this later confirmed?
- Complained that her work was being undermined by nursing indiscipline and continued opposition from army doctors
- Jun 1855 and Jan 1856 –> McNeill-Tulloch report confirmed army failings
What were the divided opinions about Nightingale’s work?
+ Cited improvements made in cleanliness, general care and concern for sick
- Cite increase in death rates after her arrival, impatience w/ colleagues
Impact of Nightingale’s work in Crimea:
- Role model for Victorian women
- Advocate for improvements in hospital design and nurse training
- 1857 –> Nightingale argued for full inquiry, which contributed to Royal Commission for the Health of the Army
- 1859 –> Wrote Notes on Hospitals
- Used funds raised through public subscription for new training school and hospital –> School at St Thomas’ Hospital in 1860 and new hospital in 1861
When was Mary Seacole born and how did she become a healer?
- 1805
- Her Jamaican mother (mixed race) was a local healer who practised folk medicine and taught Seacole this
What actions shows how reputable Seacole’s work was?
1853 –> Jamaican authorities asked her to return home to help outbreak of yellow fever
Initially how did Seacole attempt to help in the Crimea?
- When she hard of the call for nurses to go to Crimea, she made her own way by ship from Jamaica to London in 1854
- However she was rejected after both interviews presumably due to her mixed race (her opinion)
Following the rejection, what did Mary Seacole do?
- Went to Crimea independently to resume the kind of business she had run in Panama w/ an old business partner
- Upon arrival she offered to help Nightingale as a nurse but was turned down
When did Seacole and Thomas Day’s ‘British Hotel’ open and what was it?
- Spring 1855
- Part hotel, part clinic, part store, where soldiers could have hot food and small comforts like tea
Why was the hotel very popular with soldiers? (2)
- Better quality food than army rations
- Chance to buy warm clothing and shoes
How did Mary Seacole care for the sick and wounded?
- Upstairs room in hotel used as dispensary for medicine –> helpful because most doctors on frontline were army surgeons and did not have much knowledge abt treating fevers and cholera
- Visited the battlefields, carrying first-aid supplies and stayed until 1856
What book did Seacole later publish?
1857 –> Wonderful adventures of Mary Seacole in Many Lands
Compare the legacy of Seacole and Nightingale:
- Nightingale remained influential, whereas Seacole was somewhat forgotten
- Nightingale took part in reforms where as Seacole did not
- After Nightingale, nursing became a profession
- Seacole became one of greatest black Britons
