In nursing circles, 2020 became known as The Year of the Nurse, and there was renewed interest in the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale. Born in May of 1820 in Florence, Italy, her wealthy British parents named her for the city of her birth, a particular quirk they used for her older sister as well. Florence and her sister received an in-depth education, the kind usually only offered to boys, and proved themselves academically gifted.
Florence experienced calls to service and nursing from a young age. However, this calling was not always supported by her upper-class parents, whose goal was for their daughters to adhere to the status quo for women: being a wife and mother. When later reflecting on her call, Florence wrote the following:
“If I could give you information of my life it would be to show how a woman of very ordinary ability has been led by God in strange and unaccustomed paths to do in His service what He has done in her. And if I could tell you all, you would see how God has done all, and I nothing. I have worked hard, very hard, that is all; and I have never refused God anything.”
Florence eventually pursued nursing training and took the concepts of cleanliness and care to the front of the Crimean War. It was during this time that she earned the moniker “Lady of the Lamp” from soldiers. She walked up and down the rows of beds holding her lamp; her presence providing as much comfort as her knowledge of nursing. She used her practical skills with statistics and data to demonstrate the causes of poor health within the British army, and from there was able to suggest and implement changes that would improve the health of the soldiers across the globe.
Her desire to pursue nursing was not always seen favorably. It required pushing back against the social norms for women of all classes, but she was single-minded in her desire to care for people.
Florence used her connections with wealthy people and high society to build hospitals and to provide professional training for nurses. Prior to many of her advances, nurses were seen as little more than hospital housemaids to care for the dying. She founded schools to train nurses in England, and many of the women took their knowledge across the world to train others, including the United States. Nurses today take a modified version of the Hippocratic Oath, known as the Nightingale Pledge.
While she was somewhat critical of the women’s rights movement, it was only in the sense that she believed there were many opportunities for women to be leaders in their own right rather than trying to be men. She firmly believed that women had gifts and strengths equal to men’s, but different.
“I would earnestly ask my sisters to keep clear of both the jargons now current everywhere (for they are equally jargons); of the jargon, namely, about the ‘rights’ of women, which urges women to do all that men do, including the medical and other professions, merely because men do it, and without regard to whether this is the best that women can do; and of the jargon which urges women to do nothing that men do, merely because they are women, and should be ‘recalled to a sense of their duty as women,’ and because ‘this is women’s work,’ and ‘that is men’s,’ and ‘these are things which women should not do,’ which is all assertion and nothing more. Surely woman should bring the best she has, whatever that is, to the work of God’s world, without attending to either of these cries.”
― Florence Nightingale, Notes On Nursing
By the time of Florence’s death in 1910, her work had taken her to parts far and wide. She corresponded with powerful men and women, leading to marked improvement in the health of soldiers during peace and war. Her former students became matrons of many hospitals and nursing schools, and her legacy continues to inspire nurses today.
Caring for the bodies of the sick, the dying, or the healthy is a unique gift. It takes a strong stomach, a compassionate heart, and a level head. Thanks to Florence’s long work, the field of nursing has become a recognizable profession and a ministry. Holding the tension between those two things can be incredibly taxing. Many nurses experience periods of burnout due to overly regulated systems and heavy workloads. For any such person, Florence’s faith practices can also inspire. She was devoted to prayer, reading the Bible, and engaging in conversation about the practical outworking of her faith. Working in the caregiver job is hard, and it is good, so remembering to engage in spiritual practices to revive our weary hearts and souls is essential.
Conversation Questions to Ask Children
Florence Nightingale’s parents didn’t initially support her decision to become a nurse. What would it be like to follow a dream when others don’t understand or agree?
Florence prayed, read the Bible, and talked with others about her faith to keep going. What’s something you can do when you feel tired, stressed, or discouraged?
A Prayer for Doctors and Nurses (and therapists of all kinds)*
Sanctify, O Lord, those whom you have called to the study and practice of the arts of healing, and to the prevention of disease and pain. Strengthen them by your life-giving Spirit, that by their ministries the health of the community may be promoted and your creation glorified; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Book of Common Prayer, p. 460
*I say this prayer every time I work as a chaplain, and have added therapists for good measure.
[Credits: Public Domain image via Wikimedia Commons; Collect for Doctors & Nurses used with permission from the General Convention office of the Episcopal Church]
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