By Sharon Whitley Larsen
This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of legendary, world-famous nurse Florence Nightingale — who once helped battle a London cholera epidemic. So it's ironic that another pandemic, the worldwide COVID-19 crisis, has delayed celebrations.
The bad news is that the Florence Nightingale Museum in London was recently closed for a few months. The good news is that it is reopening in early August — at least until November. Visitors will be the first to view "Florence Nightingale in 200 Objects, People and Places," a new bicentenary special display that will feature the famed lamp she carried in the Crimea. The World Health Organization has also designated this the Year of the Nurse and Midwife, fittingly appropriate to honor the sacrifices made by healthcare workers around the world.
Named after the Italian city where she was born on May 12, 1820, Nightingale was raised in a wealthy English family whose money was derived from lead mining, residing in two mansions in the north and south of England. She and her older sister, Parthenope, had an unusual education for Victorian girls, taught mostly by their father. In addition to studying Greek, French, Latin, history, math, philosophy, art and Bible reading, Florence also learned to play the piano.
As teens the girls went with their mother to take fresh fruit and other items to the poor and ill townsfolk. This had a lifelong impact on Florence, whose upper-crust family expected her to marry well and perhaps do embroidery at home, as was the custom.
"Marriage had never tempted me," she once wrote. "I hated the idea of being tied forever to a life of society and only such a marriage could I have."
When I visited the museum on the grounds of St. Thomas' Hospital, centrally located across the Thames River from Parliament, I was amazed to learn a lot about this extraordinary, unconventional woman's life. Despite proposals she never did marry, and her sister didn't marry until age 40, very unusual for that time.
When Nightingale was 17, the devout Christian felt a calling by God: "You must use your life to do good in the world."
To her family's shock (since wealthy women didn't have jobs then), she decided she wanted to go into nursing, buying books on medicine and hospital sanitation, which was deplorable in those days. Rooms were often filthy and nurses were untrained and sometimes drunk.
Known for developing modern nursing, Nightingale was a visionary, advocating fresh air, hot water for cleaning, better diet, quiet time, sanitation, washing hands, clean drinking water and physical exercise — promoting prevention rather than cure and pioneering a "holistic" approach to care. After her first work in a hospital she commented, "Now I know what it is to love life."
Her generous father supported her, giving her an annual salary of 500 English pounds, a substantial amount at that time.
In 1854, at age 34, it was her incredibly organized, tireless work supervising 38 nurses attending wounded British soldiers during the 1853-1856 Crimean War that gained her fame. Strolling through the wards at night, carrying a lamp, checking on patients, holding their hands or writing to their family members, she became affectionately known as the "lady with the lamp."
She authored some 200 books, pamphlets and articles and more than 14,000 letters, writing about nurses, religion, philosophy, sanitation and hygiene. Her most famous book, "Notes on Nursing," was published in 1860, selling 15,000 copies the first month and even catching the attention of Queen Victoria, who became a fan and invited her to Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Today the book is published in 11 languages and is still available on Amazon.
Nightingale also designed a nurse's uniform: a plain dress with a white apron and white cotton hat to cover the hair.
The day I visited the museum, young children on field trips excitedly viewed videos and photos and answered questions on touch screens as a costumed "Florence" strolled around and posed for photos. ("Children find her absolutely captivating," a staff member told me.) The museum displayed many interesting items, including Nightingale's nurse's badge, childhood lunch box, letters, writing case, bracelet and medicine chest. But what intrigued me the most was a July 30, 1890, recording of her voice. She was given several honors, which included being the first woman to receive the Royal Order of Merit in 1907 from King Edward VII.
At 5 feet, 8 inches tall, she had gray eyes, rich brown hair and a delicate complexion. Known to be funny and generous yet harsh and stubborn, she loved cats and had a pet owl, Athena, that she rescued in Athens. From her early 30s the eccentric nurse generally dressed in black.
Yet the health advocate suffered various ailments herself, including bouts of fever, exhaustion, depression, loss of appetite, insomnia and severe back pain. She was slim until middle age, then became overweight and bedridden. Although she appeared to be near death several times, she lived to be 90, dying in her sleep on Aug. 13, 1910.
WHEN YOU GO
Book online for timed visitors' slots. Donations are also encouraged to keep the museum open. Florence Nightingale Museum: www.florence-nightingale.co.uk
For more information about her life: www.florence-nightingale.co.uk-whats-on
WHO designated Year of the Nurse and Midwife 2020: www.who.int/campaigns/year-of-the-nurse-and-the-midwife-2020
Sharon Whitley Larsen is a freelance writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com
A photo of nurses sewing hospital items is on display at the Florence Nightingale Museum in London. Photo courtesy of Carl H. Larsen.
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