Florence Nightingale, Army Sanitary Administration and its Reform under the late Lord Herbert (London, 1862)
Organization of nursing as a profession:
Florence Nightingale championed social reform and the organization of nursing as a profession. During the Crimean War, she organized the care of injured soldiers, making the rounds at night as the “Lady with the lamp.” Her emphasis on hygiene and hand-washing dramatically reduced the death rate. More soldiers died in the Crimean War hospital from overcrowding, defective sewers and unsanitary conditions than from battle wounds, which motivated Nightingale’s lifelong efforts to improve the sanitary conditions of the military and of the poor.
At St. Thomas Hospital in London, with donations collected after the war, she founded a nursing school devoted to training professional nurses and became active in health care reform. This little pamphlet also illustrates Nightingale’s skill in statistical analysis and visual presentation. She was elected a member of the Royal Statistical Society in 1859, the first female member.
Born in the city of Galileo in 1820, Nightingale was named after the city of her birth.