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Florence Nightingale

by Rachel from Fredericksburg

"I stand at the altar of the murdered men, and, while I live, I fight their cause."
<a href=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Florence_Nightingale_-_Project_Gutenberg_13103.jpg>Florence at a young age</a>
Florence at a young age

Everyone has a different perspective of what a hero is. To me, a hero is someone strong in mind or body. She never gives up on her dream and takes it as far as she can. She should be someone who is not selfish, but modest about her accomplishments in life. Someone like Florence Nightingale fits this description.

Born into a wealthy English family in Italy, Florence grew up in times of strict expectations for women. However, her father did not follow these expectations, he wanted her to be an intellectual woman that would go far. This is what I believe to be one of the main factors that made her into the wonderful person she was. She learned Italian, Latin, Greek, history, and mathematics. The variety of the teachings she received lead to her strength of mind and her dream.

When she was an adolescent, she was quite fascinated with hospitals and nursing. At the time, however, nursing was not considered a noble or wise job choice and her family was not that pleased. However, Florence told her family that she was upset about the conditions of infirmaries near the battlefields. She stood up for her beliefs and her dreams and she wanted to carry them far. I admire her strength of will to disobey her family and go against society just to do what she believed was right. In the end she would have a great influence on the people all around her.

<a href=http://satucket.com/lectionary/Florence_Nightingale3.jpg>On her famous lantern light rounds</a>
On her famous lantern light rounds

In 1841 she was in Crimea and met a man by the name of Sidney Herbert. They became lifelong friends and he helped establish a nursing job for her. To follow her dream of cleansing the hospitals of their filth and having a good medical facility, Florence went to Germany and was trained by the sisters at Kaiserwerth. After her training, she returned to Crimea with a team of 38 women that were trained by her. During the Crimean wars, the hospitals near the battlefields were packed with wounded soldiers. The nurses were starting to neglect the hygiene and care they gave soldiers. So, Florence and her nurses went in and drastically improved the conditions. Florence became most famous for her lantern light rounds at night time. Thanks to her, hundreds of lives were saved and people started realizing that they needed to improve hospitals all around Europe.

By the time the Crimean wars were over, Florence had become a hero. She had saved so many lives and was continuing to help people in any way she could. Another thing that I admire about Florence was that she did not voice her accomplishments to every person she met. She was very modest and even assumed a false name to return to her parent's house. Eventually, she was invited to meet with Queen Victoria! She was loved by many people then and even today. However, near the end of her life she became infected with and died from one of the diseases that was spread around the hospital in Crimea.

<a href=http://www.heanorhistory.org.uk/images/FlorenceNightingale.jpg>Florence at an older age</a>
Florence at an older age

She was one of the most influential people of her time, and continues to be even today. She saved countless lives and changed the world of hospitals and health care forever. She was not selfish, but cared about others more than herself. That is why I admire her the most. I aspire to become like her one day, no matter my job choice. Florence Nightingale is my true definition of a hero.

Page created on 11/21/2007 10:29:27 AM

Last edited 11/21/2007 10:29:27 AM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.

Related Links

Wikipedia - A good source about Florence Nightingale's entire life
Agnes Scott College - This site gives wonderful descriptions of Florence Nightingale's work.
The Story of Florence Nightingale - from NurseGroups.com