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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.

Galileo's World Exhibition Location

Bird Library

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Edward Jenner: The Mystery of the Milkmaids

Edward Jenner Learning Leaflet

Edward Jenner was a physician in the eighteenth and nineteenth century who studied the disease known as cowpox. Traditional medical knowledge demonstrated that milkmaids who contracted the disease cowpox became immune to smallpox. On account of this information Jenner surmised that pus from cowpox blisters (such as shown in the pictures) could be used to inoculate against smallpox. Learn more about Jenner, vaccines, and immunology in this learning leaflet.

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Florence Nightingale: Professionalized Health Care

Florence Nightingale Learning Leaflet

How does the visual presentation of statistical evidence support professionalization of health care?

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 ÐLady with the lamp.Ð Her emphasis on hygiene and hand washing dramatically reduced the death rate. This OER explores the breadth of Nightingale's work in the nineteenth century.

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Hildegard of Bingen: An Abbess for Health Care

Hildegard of Bingen Learning Leaflet

Why did people come to Hildegard’s convent? 

Hildegard of Bingen, Abbess of convents at Rupertsberg and Elbingen in the 12th century, explained their herbal remedies and medical procedures in her book Physica. In addition to this work on medicine, Hildegard wrote other works on cosmology and theology, corresponded in nearly 400 letters with abbots, popes and emperors, and created at least 70 musical compositions. This OER explores the significance of Hildegard of Bingen.

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