How effective was the work of Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole? Flashcards
where did Florence go to train as a nurse?
she went to Germany
why was Florence sent to the Crimea?
the Minister of war, Sidney Herbert, decided to send a team of volunteer nurses in the Crimea, and asked his friend Nightingale to lead it
-thus Nightingale set sail with 38 nurses in October 1854
was Nightingale and her team based in the Crimea itself?
no, they were based in a hospital in Scutari
-this was in the outskirts of Istanbul
what were the problems at Scutari?
-The priority of the army was its fighting men, not the wounded.
-Commander-in-chief, Raglan had an issue with the number of medical staff.
-He needed space on transport ships for fighting soldiers.
-Medical supplies had low priority.
=There are examples of medical supplies being taken off hospital ships so they can transport troops.
-Staffing of medical services was unsatisfactory.
-Army veterans were drafted in as stretcher bearers and nursing orderlies. Often ill-suited for the work, many became sick themselves, it was bizarre because in hospital it was expected that the wounded men would nurse each other
-Scutari ‘hospital’ was originally intended to be a barrack for the Turks. Not designed for sick and wounded, rarely had clean water and toilet arrangements were primitive
were Nightingale and her nurses welcomed?
no, the doctors took it as criticism and Nightingale faced resentment
what did Nightingale do to improve the issues at Scutari?
-She and her team reorganised the food for patients.
-Cleaned the wards and strove to provide clean, and washed bedlinen.
-She arranged for a school room, and a library and set some of the men with minor wounds to grow vegetables in the hospital grounds.
-She worked long hours. Often do ward rounds with her lamp when other staff had gone to bed.
-Image of Nightingale as the caring “lady with the lamp” is balanced by her reputation as a tough administrator.
-Though her brief was only to take charge of nurses, her opinions brought her into disagreement with Dr Menzies, the senior medical officer. As well as with Dr John Hall, who was in charge of army medical staff.
He tried and failed to get the nurses sent back to England. In October 1854, he wrote a favourable report on the conditions at Scutari, saying things were improving.
what did the new war minister, Panmure, order to the Crimea?
he ordered a Sanitary Commission to the Crimea
-a clean up was ordered: rubbish cleared, walls whitewashed, dead animals removed
-neither doctors nor nurses yet understood infections and the causes of disease
-Nightingale herself blamed sickness on pollution
-as the sanitary commissioners demanded changes, mortality rates fell among hospital patients
Nightingale welcomed the commission as having saved the army, and worked hard to improve the supply of medicines and basic aids such as hot-water bottles
what was Nightingale like with nurses who were independent-minded?
Nightingale was usually at odds with nurses, especially those who were independent-minded like Elizabeth Davis, who went off to Balaklava against her wishes.
what was Nightingales effect?
-They cite the increase in death rates after her arrival, suggesting her work was less effective than the changes made by the Sanitary Commission.
-Nightingale was often impatient with colleagues.
-This caused problems: The atmosphere was rancorous, with nurses accused being accused of theft, drunkenness and immorality. Her efforts to improve nutrition and obtain supplies were major factors in helping to improve conditions. Due to the difficulties in moving casualties from the battlefield, by the time soldiers reached Scutari, the men were already beyond help.
where was Mary Seacole born and who was she?
she was born in Jamaica and was the daughter of a Scottish army officer
what happened when Mary Seacole volunteered as a nurse for the Crimea?
she was turned down, which she thought was because of her race
-undeterred, she decided to go to the Crimea independently, with a view to resuming the kind of commercial/medical/retail business she had run in Panama.
-January 1955, she sailed for the Crimea to join an old business partner, Thomas Day.
-Stopping at Scutari, she offered to help Nightingale as a nurse, but was turned down.
-She then travelled on to the Crimea and set up a business with Day outside Balaklava.
Explain a bit about Seacole’s and Day’s hotel?
-Seacole and Day’s British Hotel on Spring Hill opened in the spring of 1855.
-It was part hotel, part store, part clinic, where soldiers could enjoy hot food and shelter, and small comforts like tea, coffee, blankets and bread.
-Hotel was very popular with officers and ordinary soldiers.
-They were usually drawn in by the idea of better quality food than army rations. As well as the chance to buy warm clothing and shoes.
No gambling was allowed and it closed at 8 p.m.
-French chef Alexis Soyer was impressed that Seacole fed men better than the army.
-In the mornings after breakfast, Mary Seacole cared for the sick and wounded, using an upstairs room as a dispensary for medicines.
-She used her folk-medicine experience and prescribed remedies that were often helpful.
-This was especially since most medical staff at the front line were army surgeons with little knowledge of treating fevers and cholera.
did Seacole visit the battlefields?
yes, she visited the battlefields with first-aid supplies on mules to troops
-She treated the wounded and dying, and was reputedly the first woman on the allied side into the city after the Russians withdrew.
-At Sevastopol, she met war correspondent William H. Russell, who became her enthusiastic advocate. He described her as a kind and successful physician. Seacole remained in the Crimea, touring the battlefields and running her store. This was until 1856, when all the soldiers had left.
-She had lots of unsold stock and debts, she returned to Britain to open a store in the army town of Aldershot.
-Day decided to try his luck in Australia.
-When the Aldershot business failed, friends came to her aid: A letter to The Times newspaper, and a poem published in Punch magazine, appealed to the public not to let her efforts be forgotten. Among her many supporters was Russell, who in the Times of April 1857, praised her skilful hand in tending wounds and broken limbs.
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