Women: Phase 2 Florence Nightingale and changes to nursing in military hospitals 1850-1860 Flashcards
Who was Mary Seacole?
A black nurse who fought racial prejudice and paid her own way to Crimea
Who was Florence Nightingale?
Born 1820 in Florence
1840s - wished to work in hospitals
She trained in Alexandria, Egypt and then London in 1853.
She took an unpaid role as Superintended at the Establishment for Gentle Women During Illness
Explain Florence Nightingale’s work during the Crimean War and at Scutari Hospital
Florence got a letter inviting her to become the Superintendent of the Female Nursing Establishment of the English General Hospital in Turkey
She got to Scutari Hospital in 1854 with 38 other nurses
She had to fight military authorities to reform the hospital
Conditions were poor and extremely dirty. She collected data to show that if sanitation improved then mortality would improve.
By Feb 1855 the mortality rate decreased from 60% to 42%. She got fresh water and bought fresh fruit and vegetables. By Spring 1855, the mortality rate had dropped to 2.2%
What were the limitations to Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War
Army medical staff did not like the idea of nurses coming out as they felt they couldn’t handle it.
They resented Nightingale as they saw her suggestions as criticisms.
In Britain it did not change a lot, nurses were only expected to keep records of a patients condition.
Nurses had little to no training so it was hard to break into medicine.
