“Rather, ten times, die in the surf, heralding the way to a new world, than stand idly on the shore.” – Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale was a British nurse, statistician, and social reformer. She served as a nurse in the Crimean war and established St. Thomas’s Hospital and the Nightingale Training School for Nurses. She is commonly known as the founder of modern nursing. She was born in 1820, and by the time she was 16, Nightingale became active in volunteering to tend to the old and ill. When she was 17, she refused a marriage proposal from a man, despite her parents’ objection, to attend the Lutheran Hospital of Pastor Fliedner. Soon after graduating, she was promoted to superintendent of Middlesex hospital until 1854. She was called upon to help war efforts, so she amassed 34 nurses for 18,000 soldiers-–reducing deaths by 2/3. After the war she worked to found her hospital and school. She also worked on statistical graphics to incorporate a scientific approach to medicine, establishing many modern practices. At the age of 88, she was conferred the merit of honor by King Edward.