Ode to Florence Nightingale and generations of nurses
Recently I had an opportunity to enter the world of health care. I had a cataract removed from my right eye.
Many of you may have had the same procedure.
It’s somewhat uncomfortable but not painful and performed under a local anesthetic.
I was second in line — they do these at an early hour when I’m usually still in my bathrobe.
I was lying quietly minding my own thoughts in the holding area when I was informed that the person in front of me had developed some complications. Thus, instead of what would normally been a half hour queued up my loitering time ran into more than an hour.
This was not unfortunate. It allowed me to have some delightful conversation with the attending nurses. I don’t publish names in my columns but if they’re reading this they’ll know who they are.
Our discourse tripped into several subjects as they chatted among themselves then came over to check on me (was going nowhere). Finally, as I was on my way to the procedure room, one asked “Do you have any questions?” I replied “Yes, what’s the capitol of New Zealand?”
I have done this several times before when I was undergoing a medical procedure; it seems to lighten them up.
After their laughter subsided, they offered several guesses but none was Wellington, the correct answer. So, I went into the darkened procedure room with a big smile.
Of course, their focus is on some medical concern a patient might have, not something like my query.
My adventure brought to mind several of my high school classmates who entered the nursing profession. I think they would have thought my question typical based on the kid they remembered from high school. However, I have nothing but the highest regard for them and the nurses I’ve encountered through my journeys in the field of health care treatment.
In an homage to all of them I thought I might take a brief glimpse into the history of nursing as a profession.
Source material on the early history is sketchy but nurses of one type or another have been around for a long time.
The first known Christian nurse, Phoebe, is mentioned in Romans 16:1 of the Bible. Around AD 50 St. Paul sent a deaconess named Phoebe to Rome as the first visiting nurse.
In a remotely related item, Hewlett-packard Loveland’s first visiting nurse reported to me in the early 1980s.
Well, it was a big plus for the Christians as they were willing to nurse the sick, and pagan religions basically said “get over yourselves.”
Time passed, as did millions of people, then Florence Nightingale appeared on the scene.
She was ahead of her time as she refused her parents’ wishes to marry a nice Brit nobleman and settle down. She chose instead the path of charitable work and enrolled as a nursing student at a Lutheran hospital in Kaiserwerth, Germany.
She returned to London and took a nursing job in a Middlesex hospital. She made it her mission to improve hygienic practices and thus lowered the death rate.
In the meantime the Crimean War broke out. Early results saw more than 18,000 British soldiers in hospitals, and conditions in those hospitals were unsanitary and inhumane. There were no nurses in that group of hospitals due to poor prior experiences with female nurses.
In an effort to remedy the situation the British Secretary of War asked Florence to organize a corps of nurses to tend the sick and fallen. She assembled a team of 34 nurses from various religious orders and they set off for Crimea a few days later.
When they arrived the corps discovered it was even worse than they imagined. The hospital sat on top of a large cesspool which contaminated the water and the hospital building — the Brits must have been short of competent engineers.
The place was full of crawly critters and short on bandages and soap.
The number of wounded and ill soldiers increased to the extent water had to be rationed with more dying from cholera and typhus than from battle injuries.
Flo took charge and soon had patients scrubbing the inside of the hospital.
She devoted herself to caring for the patients and in the evenings moved through the wards carrying a lamp on her rounds. The soldiers were moved by her compassion and took to calling her “The Lady with the Lamp.”
Others (survivors) called her “the angel of Crimea.”
Her efforts with her team reduced the hospital’s death rate by two-thirds.
Her modifications to the hospital included a laundry, a library and a classroom for intellectual stimulation and entertainment.
Her experiences in Crimea stimulated her to write “Notes on Matters Affecting the Health, Efficiency and Hospital Administration of the British Army.”
Perhaps if she had been in military leadership “The Charge of the Light Brigade” might never have happened.
She returned to England to a hero’s welcome and a brooch from the Queen in addition to $250,000 from the government.
Knowledge of the work performed by Florence initiated a public fund that allowed her to set up a training school for nurses at St. Thomas Hospital. The first batch of nurses graduated from the training were called “Nightingales.”
Florence Nightingale continued to work on concerns about medical treatment of soldiers. Statistics reflected that 16,000 to 18,000 Crimean War deaths were from preventable diseases. She remained involved in medical military issues to her death in 1910, even consulting on military hospitals during the U.S. Civil War.
So, to the memory of Florence Nightingale and to the admiration of my high school classmates who became “Nightingales” and to all those who have crossed my path since my birth, thank you for your skill and compassion.