200th Anniversary Birth of Florence Nightingale

2020 has been named the Year of the Nurse and Midwife by the World Health Organization to highlight the vital position nurses and midwives hold in the transformation of healthcare but also to pay homage to one of the most important figures of modern nursing.

Florence Nightingale (May 12, 1820 - August 13, 1910) was born into a wealthy, well-connected British family and, despite her family's wishes, followed the call she believe God sent her to help the sick and poor by training in the art and science of nursing. Her most famous contribution came during the Crimean Wear (1853-1856) during which time Nightingale was shocked by the unsanitary conditions wounded soldiers were exposed to. A trailblazing figure, Nightingale instituted strict reforms to improve patient safety which dramatically increased mortality rates.

Following the war, Nightingale set up the Nightingale Training School at St. Thomas' Hospital in 1860 where countless future nurses were trained. She is known as the founder of modern nursing and a proponent of compassionate, patient-driven care as well as diligent hospital administration.

The Sullivan Family Library is joining in the celebration of Nightingale with a display on the second floor where you can see images of Florence Nightingale along with pictures of the Florence Nightingale Medal and the Nightingale Pledge that nurses recite at their pinning ceremony.

Below are resources from the library about Florence Nightingale, her life, and her work.

Forrester, D. (2016). Nursing's greatest leaders: a history of activism. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.

"This book provides a unique perspective on the lives and achievements of the most revered nurses throughout history. It is comprised of biographies of many of nursing's most important activist agents of change, with a focus on those characteristics that enabled them to accomplish their goals and implement changes that improved nursing, health, health care, and society." -from publisher

Macrae, J. (2001). Nursing as a spiritual practice: a contemporary application of Florence Nightingale's views. New York, NY: Springer. 

"Janet Macrae, both a Nightingale scholar and a nationally recognized expert on therapeutic touch, outlines Nightingale's ideas on spirituality in this book and discusses how a variety of techniques can be used to implement a more spiritual and humane form of nursing care." -from publisher

Nightingale, F. (2010). Florence Nightingale's Notes on nursing: what it is and what it is not & Notes on nursing for the labouring classes; commemorative edition with commentary. New York, NY: Springer. 

"Simultaneously witty, scathing, and anecdotal, Florence Nightingale's Notes on Nursing is perhaps the most influential work on nursing throughout the world... The new edition presents Nightingale's unabridged edition in its original form for the very first time since its publication in July 1860. -from publisher

Nightingale, F. (2005). Florence Nightingale on women, medicine, midwifery and prostitution. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.

"...makes available a great range of Florence Nightingale's work on women: her pioneering study of maternal mortality in childbirth, her opposition to the regulation of prostitution through the Contagious Diseases Acts, her views on gender roles, marriage and measures for income security for women and excerpts from her draft (abandoned) novel." -from publisher

Swaby, R. (2015). Headstrong: 52 women who changed science -- and the world.  New York, NY: Broadway Books.

"Covering Nobel Prize winners and major innovators, as well as lesser-known but hugely significant scientists who influence our every day life, Swaby profiles span centuries of courageous thinkers and illustrate how each one's ideas developed." -from publisher