During the Crimean War
Nightingale's first partake in war was the Crimean War in 1854.
"Florence had already planned to travel to the Crimea when, in October, the Secretary of War, Sir Sidney Herbert, asked her to gather a group of nurses to nurse the wounded at the military hospital in Scutari. On November 4, 1854, she arrived with 37 other nurses at the Barracks Hospital, a huge, quadrangular building with sides nearly a quarter mile long." (British Heritage).
Nightingale was met with a shocking discovery; the hospitals were in horrendous conditions. There was no sanitation at all in the hospitals and the atrocious conditions included contaminated water everywhere, inadequate food, worn-out clothing, and rust and fungi on the walls. There were also diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and typhus that were spreading across the hospitals like wildfire.
It was safe to say that the Crimean War, especially the hospital conditions, were some of the most horrific things that Nightingale had ever seen. Volunteers throughout the hospitals practically renovated the hospital to make it more advanced and sanitized.
"Florence had already planned to travel to the Crimea when, in October, the Secretary of War, Sir Sidney Herbert, asked her to gather a group of nurses to nurse the wounded at the military hospital in Scutari. On November 4, 1854, she arrived with 37 other nurses at the Barracks Hospital, a huge, quadrangular building with sides nearly a quarter mile long." (British Heritage).
Nightingale was met with a shocking discovery; the hospitals were in horrendous conditions. There was no sanitation at all in the hospitals and the atrocious conditions included contaminated water everywhere, inadequate food, worn-out clothing, and rust and fungi on the walls. There were also diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and typhus that were spreading across the hospitals like wildfire.
It was safe to say that the Crimean War, especially the hospital conditions, were some of the most horrific things that Nightingale had ever seen. Volunteers throughout the hospitals practically renovated the hospital to make it more advanced and sanitized.
"The soldiers were poorly cared for, medicines and other essentials were in short supply, hygiene was neglected, and infections were rampant. Nightingale found there was no clean linen; the clothes of the soldiers were swarming with bugs, lice, and fleas; the floors, walls, and ceilings were filthy; and rats were hiding under the beds. There were no towels, basins, or soap, and only 14 baths for approximately 2000 soldiers. The death count was the highest of all hospitals in the region. " (U.S. National Library of Medicine).
“There were no vessels for water or utensils of any kind; no soap, towels, or clothes, no hospital clothes; the men lying in their uniforms, stiff with gore and covered with filth to a degree and of a kind no one could write about; their persons covered with vermin . . . We have not seen a drop of milk, and the bread is extremely sour. The butter is most filthy; it is Irish butter in a state of decomposition; and the meat is more like moist leather than food. Potatoes we are waiting for, until they arrive from France . . .” (Bloy).
After being exposed to these horrible conditions, Nightingale immediately got to work with the other nurses and volunteers throughout the hospitals and practically renovated the hospital to make it more advanced and sanitized.
"One of Nightingale's first purchases was of 200 Turkish towels; she later provided an enormous supply of clean shirts, plenty of soap, and such necessities as plates, knives, and forks, cups and glasses. Nightingale believed the main problems were diet, dirt, and drains—she brought food from England, cleaned up the kitchens, and set her nurses to cleaning up the hospital wards. " (U.S. National Library of Medicine).
Nightingale took the boards off windows that were used to “keep out germs” and created a fund that raised money for food and water, which ideally changed the current diets of the patients into healthier meals with increased nutritional values.
"She and her nurses bathed the soldiers, washed their linens, and fed them more substantial food. She eventually established a separate kitchen with her own money to prepare easily digested food for patients. She secured a source of clean drinking water and improved overall sanitary conditions. She set up a system for receiving patients, the basis of modern triage. The mortality rate declined 2% because of her efforts. She personally attended to countless men, many on their deathbeds. She made so many endless rounds, carrying a lamp with her in the late hours of the night, that she became known as the “Lady with the Lamp,” a nickname that was published in an account of her work in The London Times." (British Heritage).
“There were no vessels for water or utensils of any kind; no soap, towels, or clothes, no hospital clothes; the men lying in their uniforms, stiff with gore and covered with filth to a degree and of a kind no one could write about; their persons covered with vermin . . . We have not seen a drop of milk, and the bread is extremely sour. The butter is most filthy; it is Irish butter in a state of decomposition; and the meat is more like moist leather than food. Potatoes we are waiting for, until they arrive from France . . .” (Bloy).
After being exposed to these horrible conditions, Nightingale immediately got to work with the other nurses and volunteers throughout the hospitals and practically renovated the hospital to make it more advanced and sanitized.
"One of Nightingale's first purchases was of 200 Turkish towels; she later provided an enormous supply of clean shirts, plenty of soap, and such necessities as plates, knives, and forks, cups and glasses. Nightingale believed the main problems were diet, dirt, and drains—she brought food from England, cleaned up the kitchens, and set her nurses to cleaning up the hospital wards. " (U.S. National Library of Medicine).
Nightingale took the boards off windows that were used to “keep out germs” and created a fund that raised money for food and water, which ideally changed the current diets of the patients into healthier meals with increased nutritional values.
"She and her nurses bathed the soldiers, washed their linens, and fed them more substantial food. She eventually established a separate kitchen with her own money to prepare easily digested food for patients. She secured a source of clean drinking water and improved overall sanitary conditions. She set up a system for receiving patients, the basis of modern triage. The mortality rate declined 2% because of her efforts. She personally attended to countless men, many on their deathbeds. She made so many endless rounds, carrying a lamp with her in the late hours of the night, that she became known as the “Lady with the Lamp,” a nickname that was published in an account of her work in The London Times." (British Heritage).
More significantly, she sought to improve sanitary conditions in the medical facilities. She proved her case through statistical analysis, using what she called "coxcombs," now known as "polar-area diagrams." Her proof of the effectiveness of proper hygiene for the recovery from wounds and disease led to a reform of the entire military hospital system." (Kings College).