The Nursing Profession and Important Women in Medicine.

1
The Nursing Profession and Important Women in
Medicine.
By Mr Day Downloaded from SchoolHistory.co.uk
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Lesson Objectives

• To understand why and how the nursing profession
  developed and the contribution of women.
• To focus on the role of Florence Nightingale.

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Nursing

• Nursing emerged as a profession in the late 19th
  century. Before this time, nursing did not
  require any training, was badly paid and did not
  have a respectable reputation.
• Florence Nightingale was instrumental in
  bringing about this change. In 1860, Nightingale
  set up the first nurses' training school at St.
  Thomas's Hospital this became the foundation of
  most nursing programmes within the Western world.

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Key Facts

• In the1800s Elizabeth Fry set up the Institute of
  Nursing Sisters to train nurses
• Some of the of the earliest nurses were nuns the
  Sisters of Mercy was set up in Dublin in 1830 to
  care for the sick
• In 1860 Florence Nightingale set up the first
  nurses training school at St. Thomas's Hospital.

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How did the Crimean War improve conditions in
hospitals?

• The Crimean War was fought by Britain between
  1854-56.
• At the hospital soldiers were left lying on bare
  floors there were no supplies of any kind and
  they had no more than one meal a day, if that.
  there were no lavatories or sanitation and no
  nurses or bandages. Men were left to die in great
  pain without any medical attention.
• Florence Nightingale enforced rules on
  cleanliness, introduced special diets, improved
  the water supply and made sure there was enough
  food and gave the men proper nursing care. Two
  years after her arrival, the death rate at the
  hospital was two per cent. It had been 40 per
  cent when she arrived.

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Barrack Hospital, Istanbul.

• Florence Nightingale's big opportunity came when
  the Secretary at War, who knew the family, asked
  her to go to the Crimea to take charge of the
  hospital at Scutari in Turkey.

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A Nightingale Ward
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Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)

• Florence Nightingale was born in Italy to wealthy
  English parents.
• Florence Nightingale's big opportunity came when
  the Crimean War broke out in 1854. the British
  Army suffered horrific losses from the new
  exploding shells and from lack of medical
  support.
• The Secretary at War, who knew the Nightingale
  family, asked her to go to the Crimea to take
  charge of the hospital at Scutari in Turkey.

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How did she change medicine?

• Florence Nightingale used her reputation gained
  during the Crimean War to improve standards in
  nursing back at home.
• The public donated 44,000 to set up a nursing
  school, at St Thomas' Hospital, London.
• By 1887 Nightingale's nurses were working in
  Australia, Canada, India, Sri Lanka, Germany,
  Sweden and the USA. their standards helped to
  turn nursing into a respected profession.
  Nightingale also helped to reform the army
  medical service and the way in which hospitals
  were run.

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Mary Seacole 1805 - 1881

• Another nurse, Mary Seacole, also went to the
  Crimea and at her own expense set up a medical
  store and hostel near Balaclava and also nursed
  the wounded on the battlefield, but, in spite of
  her popularity with soldiers, was not invited to
  join Florence Nightingale.
• Many historians believe the work of Mary Seacole
  has been largely ignored because she was a black
  woman, working at a time of great prejudice.

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Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (1836-1917)

• Applied to British universities to train as a
  doctor, but was turned down in every case.
  Undeterred, she went to France and received the
  M.D. degree from the University of Paris in 1870.
  She returned to London and set up practice.
• Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the first British
  woman to qualify as a doctor. In 1874 she
  established the London School of Medicine for
  Women. Her determination paved the way for other
  women. In 1876 an Act of Parliament was passed
  which permitted women to enter all of the medical
  professions.
• Even today one of the leading hospitals for women
  in London is named after Anderson as a tribute to
  her part in breaking down prejudice in the
  medical profession.