What were the early days of Florence Nightingale were,like ?

Question

Before,joining the The Red cross society!

Answer 1

Florence Nightingale was the daughter of a wealthy landowner in Hampshire in England. She was very close to her father who educated her himself and gave her a very broad education.

The family was very religious, and at the age of 17 Florence decided she had a great calling from God. Florence’s domineering mother wanted her to get married (like most young ladies of that era), but Florence rejected several suitors. Instead, at the age of 25, she resolved to become a nurse, and spent her time visiting hospitals. This was regarded as shameful by her parents because traditionally nursing was a low-class profession with little status.



After several years of family conflict her father gave her permission to study nursing at Kaiserworth in Germany. When she returned she took up a resident position at a hospital for invalid women in London’s Harley Street in 1853.

This was one year before the outbreak of the Crimean War. The British Minister of War knew Florence socially and appointed her to supervise nursing for the British army in the Crimea. This followed heavy criticism of medical facilities in the Crimea by the Times newspaper. Florence Nightingale’s pioneering work in the Crimea made her world famous.

She was not directly involved in the foundation of the Red Cross. However, her work was an inspiration for Henry Dunant, who founded the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1863. When the British Red Cross was founded in 1870, Nightingale approved it and was a member of the Ladies Committee.

There is a lot more information about Florence Nightingale at the following links:

http://www.florence-nightingale.co.uk/fl...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Ni...

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/REn...

http://www.redcross.org.uk/standard.asp?...