On Friday, we were learning more about our hero, Florence Nightingale.
We have already learned about Florence Nightingale’s early life and what nursing was like before the Crimean War. We know that nursing was not a highly-respected profession and that Florence’s parents were not keen on the idea of her wanting to become a nurse. However, she felt she had a calling from God and later in her life, nursed her father during a time of illness and he eventually changed his mind and helped towards an allowance. Florence was eventually asked to travel to Crimea to help the injured soldiers by Sidney Herbert. When she arrived, the conditions were terrible! It was incredibly dirty, and from the illustration that we saw, it seemed like there were no beds.
When Florence was in Crimea, she nursed the sick and she focused on cleaning the hospitals. She knew about the importance of fresh air and cleanliness. Her nickname was ‘The Lady with the Lamp’ and she ensured that there were beds, made up with clean bedding, and that soldiers were fed well. On Friday though, we looked at how Florence’s ideas have helped to change the world of nursing and how we can still see some of those ideas in hospitals today. We learned about her book, Notes on Nursing, to improve the reputation of nursing around the world. She knew how important it was for nurses to be properly trained, based on a a training strategy of dedication and discipline. Another important moment in her life, was setting up the Nightingale Training School for Nurses, which opened at St Thomas’ in 1860. Nurses from this school went on to spread her approach around the world!
We then learned about Nightingale Wards and looked at a photograph from a newspaper, which showed one of these wards at St Thomas’s Hospital. In this photograph, we could see big windows, beds in rows, with enough space in between them. We even noticed clipboards besides the beds where the nurses could write down important notes. We then looked at how these wards were designed, which usually had 32 beds but there was little privacy at the time. The high ceilings also helped to make sure that fresh air was circulating around the room well. After this, we looked at an image of a ward in St Thomas’s hospital today. We noticed that the room was really light and airy, with big windows, and that the beds were clean and separated. Looking at both images side-by-side, we saw that it was clear that Florence and her Nightingale wards have influenced the hospitals that we use today. In the image of today’s wards though, we did see that each bed has a little more privacy as they have curtains to separate the patients. As a challenge, we thought about similarities and differences between the Nightingale nurses and the nurses that we see in hospitals today. We noticed that their uniforms have changed, but that they still wear uniforms and that they are clean! We also noticed that men can be nurses today too.
We have been really enjoying our learning about Florence Nightingale and we are so excited to start learning about Mary Seacole!
What was your favourite thing that you learned about Florence Nightingale and what are you hoping to find out about Mary Seacole and her legacy?
I hope you enjoyed learning about Florence Nightingale.😊