FAYE MOSS: Hello, everyone! Welcome to another episode of Superstars in History, the talk show featuring exclusive interviews with people from the past. I'm your host, Faye Moss. Today's guest was both a compassionate nurse and a gifted statistician who made groundbreaking contributions to healthcare. Please welcome the one and only Lady with the Lamp—Florence Nightingale!
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE: Thank you, Faye!
FAYE MOSS: We can't wait to hear all about your career, Florence. Did you always dream about being a nurse?
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE: Well, as a child, I did enjoy taking care of family pets when they were injured. I was also intrigued by my relatives' ailments and kept a written record of things like my sister's toothache and an uncle's back pain! However, when I was born in 1820, females in Great Britain didn't think much about careers. Unless a woman was poor, she was just expected to get married and raise a family.
FAYE MOSS: Did you go to school?
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE: No, but my family was quite wealthy, so my sister and I had a governess who gave us lessons. And my father tutored us in challenging subjects like physics, Greek, and statistics. In our household we were constantly discussing important issues, so I grew up yearning to do something meaningful with my life. At age 16, I had a religious awakening that affirmed this desire.
FAYE MOSS: What do you mean?
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE: I had a strong feeling that God was calling on me to reduce human suffering. I eventually came to believe this meant becoming a nurse.
FAYE MOSS: I bet your parents were proud of you!
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE: Quite the opposite, Faye—they were horrified! At the time most hospitals were filthy places where the poor went for treatment. Nurses were like servants who performed menial tasks such as emptying chamber pots and mopping floors. My parents hoped I'd forget my foolish ideas and marry one of my suitors!
But I clung stubbornly to my dream for seven years. In 1851 I finally enrolled in an excellent nursing school in Germany. After my training I took a job running a hospital for women in London. And then in 1854, Britain went to war in Europe.
FAYE MOSS: Oh, was that the Crimean War?
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE: Yes. British troops went to Crimea to stop Russian expansion in that area. The ill or wounded soldiers were sent to a hospital across the Black Sea in Scutari, Turkey. Later that year I was put in charge of a team of 38 other nurses and dispatched to Scutari. What we saw when we arrived was shocking. Along with the soldiers' battle wounds, illnesses such as frostbite, dysentery, and cholera were rampant. Conditions inside the hospital were ghastly, with overcrowding, broken plumbing, and rats scurrying around.
FAYE MOSS: Did you say . . . rats?
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE: Yes, rats, not to mention infestations of fleas and lice! Soldiers were sleeping on the floor without blankets, and food and medical supplies were scarce. During my first winter at Scutari, over four thousand men died.
FAYE MOSS: How terrible.
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE: It was indeed terrible, and in 1855, the British government sent a sanitary commission to investigate. The commission confirmed my suspicions that the filthy conditions were affecting the soldiers' health. Once the hospital began to focus on sanitation—cleaning sewers, improving ventilation, and scrubbing everything—patients' health improved. In just a few months, the mortality rate dropped from 42.7 percent to 2.2 percent.
FAYE MOSS: That's impressive, Florence!
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE: It certainly wasn't easy. The work never ended, and many men disliked working with women—especially one as stubborn as me!
I also traveled to the front lines to care for sick soldiers. During one such trip, I contracted Crimean Fever, a disease that causes pain and exhaustion. I was quite ill but kept working; I refused to go home until the last British patients were sent home.
FAYE MOSS: When did you get your nickname—the Lady with the Lamp? Was it during the Crimean War?
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE: Yes, the soldiers called me that because I carried a lamp when I checked on them at night, in the darkness. The nickname gained popularity in England after a newspaper featured an illustration of me with my lamp. By the time I arrived home in 1856, I was quite famous—Queen Victoria even sent me a thank you note! However, fame didn't interest me one bit. I just wanted to be left alone to continue working.
FAYE MOSS: How was your health? Were you able to continue with your nursing career?
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE: No, unfortunately, the Crimean Fever had left me in almost constant pain. But I found a way to use my knowledge of statistics to improve medical care. I'd taken extensive notes during the war, and a colleague and I began analyzing data about military hospitals for a report on the health of the British army. The report, released in 1858, was over five hundred pages long. It caused quite a stir because I was one of the first researchers to use diagrams in addition to statistics to illustrate important trends in medical care.
FAYE MOSS: Did it lead to changes in healthcare?
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE: It most certainly did. From my data, lawmakers could now clearly see, for example, that sanitation was hugely important; more British soldiers died from preventable causes than from battle wounds! My work led to cleaner hospitals and even a new sewer system in London. I also became the first female fellow in the Royal Statistical Society—quite an honor.
FAYE MOSS: I'll say! Didn't you establish a nursing school too?
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE: Yes, the Nightingale School of Nursing opened in London in 1860. We trained nurses and instituted practices that became standard, such as frequent hand-washing and wearing uniforms. Each year I sent a letter to the students, gently reminding them to maintain important nursing principles such as kindness, sympathy, and trustworthiness. I also continued researching aspects of medical care, including ways to improve working and living conditions for the poor and recommendations for hospital design.
FAYE MOSS: Wow! At a time when most women didn't have careers, you revolutionized the field of nursing! And you fulfilled your personal ambition to reduce suffering in the world. We'll let you return to history now.
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE: Good-bye!
FAYE MOSS: Florence Nightingale was a talented nurse and a remarkable statistician whose research changed healthcare forever. She died in 1910. Her accomplishments also inspired many other women to become nurses. International Nurses Day is celebrated each year on Florence Nightingale's birthday, May 12.
I hope you enjoyed my interview with Florence Nightingale. I'll be back soon with another fascinating guest from the past. You've been watching Faye Moss on Superstars in History!