The Lady with the Lamp
"No man, not even a doctor, ever gives any other definition of what a nurse should be than this -- 'devoted and obedient.' This definition would do just as well for a porter. It might even do for a horse. It would not do for a policeman." -Florence Nightingale 1859 (Lewis).
In 1854 the Crimean War broke out and within weeks 8,000 men had died, not from war but from illness such as cholera and malaria. A newspaper reporter, William Russell, wrote of the extremely unsanitary conditions and the neglect of wounded soldiers (Simkin). Russell wrote in the The Times on the fifteenth of September 1854 "Are there no devoted women among us, able and willing to go forth to minister to the sick and suffering soldiers of the East in the hospitals of Scutari? Are none of the daughters of England, at this extreme hour of need, ready for such a work of mercy? Must we fall so far below the French in self-sacrifice and devotedness" (Bloy). At first the work of women volunteers was rejected because there was much prejudice against women in the medical field, but soon it all changed because of the lack of help (Simkin). In a letter to Elizabeth Herbert, Nightingale wrote "...A small private expedition of nurses has been organized for Scutari and I have been asked to command it...We feed and lodge ourselves there and are to be no expense whatever to the country...I do not mean to say the I believe the Times accounts, but I do believe that we may be of use to the wounded wretches," (Nergaard 79). Nightingale contemplated on going because she did not want to break the engagement she had previously made. She asked Mrs. Herbert of many things including consent and she went on to tell her that she had to gain permission from her parents to go (Nergaard 79).
In 1854 the Crimean War broke out and within weeks 8,000 men had died, not from war but from illness such as cholera and malaria. A newspaper reporter, William Russell, wrote of the extremely unsanitary conditions and the neglect of wounded soldiers (Simkin). Russell wrote in the The Times on the fifteenth of September 1854 "Are there no devoted women among us, able and willing to go forth to minister to the sick and suffering soldiers of the East in the hospitals of Scutari? Are none of the daughters of England, at this extreme hour of need, ready for such a work of mercy? Must we fall so far below the French in self-sacrifice and devotedness" (Bloy). At first the work of women volunteers was rejected because there was much prejudice against women in the medical field, but soon it all changed because of the lack of help (Simkin). In a letter to Elizabeth Herbert, Nightingale wrote "...A small private expedition of nurses has been organized for Scutari and I have been asked to command it...We feed and lodge ourselves there and are to be no expense whatever to the country...I do not mean to say the I believe the Times accounts, but I do believe that we may be of use to the wounded wretches," (Nergaard 79). Nightingale contemplated on going because she did not want to break the engagement she had previously made. She asked Mrs. Herbert of many things including consent and she went on to tell her that she had to gain permission from her parents to go (Nergaard 79).
Nightingale and thirty-eight nurses made their journey on October 21 and arrived on November 4. Upon arriving Nightingale was granted the title "Superintendent of the Female Nurses in the Hospitals in the East" but became known as the "Lady with the Lamp" because of her nightly rounds checking on the patients. Nightingale and her nurses were without supplies and little food (Bloy). She was shocked by the treatment of the soldiers and the conditions they were kept in. After the soldier was hurt in battle, they laid him in a room with no blankets, little food, and they were left in their uniforms (Simkin). According to Marjie Bloy Nightingale and her nurses wrote this about the conditions.
"There were no vessels for water or utensils of any kind; no soap, towels, or clothes, no hospital clothes; the men lying in their uniforms, stiff with gore and covered with filth to a degree and of a kind no one could write about; their persons covered with vermin . . .
We have not seen a drop of milk, and the bread is extremely sour. The butter is most filthy; it is Irish butter in a state of decomposition; and the meat is more like moist leather than food. Potatoes we are waiting for, until they arrive from France . . ."
In a letter to Sidney Herbert, from Ever Yours, Florence Nightingale, Nightingale wrote "...In the three weeks that we have been here, though our remonstrances have been treated with perfect civility, yet no washing whatever has been performed for the men either of body linen or bed-linen except by ourselves..." (88).
"There were no vessels for water or utensils of any kind; no soap, towels, or clothes, no hospital clothes; the men lying in their uniforms, stiff with gore and covered with filth to a degree and of a kind no one could write about; their persons covered with vermin . . .
We have not seen a drop of milk, and the bread is extremely sour. The butter is most filthy; it is Irish butter in a state of decomposition; and the meat is more like moist leather than food. Potatoes we are waiting for, until they arrive from France . . ."
In a letter to Sidney Herbert, from Ever Yours, Florence Nightingale, Nightingale wrote "...In the three weeks that we have been here, though our remonstrances have been treated with perfect civility, yet no washing whatever has been performed for the men either of body linen or bed-linen except by ourselves..." (88).
During the war the death of soldiers because of war wounds was every one in six deaths, most of the soldiers died of diseases such as typhus, cholera, dysentery, and malaria. Nightingale was not surprised at all by the statistics because of the awful conditions the soldiers were kept in (Simkin). The military and doctors did not appreciate the comments and judgements of Nightingale, so they made her feel unwelcome and treated her with rudeness. This continued until Nightingale contacted the The Times to report the treatment of the wounded and the conditions they were made to stay in (Simkin). A relief fund was organized by the paper and Nightingale was put in charge of reforming the army hospitals and bettering the conditions (Bloy). Nightingale used personal funds to establish kitchens and a place for laundry against the wishes of the hospital staff (Mike). She also took in the families of the soldiers and watched over them as well. The nurses were overworked and "understaffed", but Nightingale was the only one allowed in the patient corridors after 8 p.m. This is how she became known as the Lady with the Lamp (Bloy). After her improvements the results began to show and the death rate of the soldiers drastically fell (Simkin). A man, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, that greatly appreciated her works tried to express his appreciation through a poem he wrote in 1857.
Whene'er a noble deed is wrought,
Whene'er is spoken a noble thought,
Our hearts, in glad surprise,
To higher levels rise.
The tidal wave of deeper souls
Into our inmost being rolls,
And lifts us unawares
Out of all meaner cares.
Honour to those whose words or deeds
Thus help us in our daily needs,
And by their overflow
Raise us from what is low!
Thus thought I, as by night I read
Of the great army of the dead,
The trenches cold and damp,
The starved and frozen camp, —
The wounded from the battle-plain,
In dreary hospitals of pain,
The cheerless corridors,
The cold and stony floors.
Lo! in that house of misery
A lady with a lamp I see
Pass through the glimmering gloom,
And flit from room to room.
And slow, as in a dream of bliss,
The speechless sufferer turns to kiss
Her shadow, as it falls
Upon the darkening walls.
As if a door in heaven should be
Opened, and then closed suddenly,
The vision came and went,
The light shone was spent.
On England's annals, through the long
Hereafter of her speech and song,
That light its rays shall cast
From portals of the past.
A lady with a lamp shall stand
In the great history of the land,
A noble type of good,
Heroic womanhood.
Nor even shall be wanting here
The palm, the lily, and the spear,
The symbols that of yore
Saint Filomena bore.
During the winter, because of frost bite and disease in the trenches the hospital became full. With so many patients, short cuts for the sanitation procedures led to the death rate rising to 42%. In February the sanitation commission was ordered to carry of the sanitation reforms, and by June the death rate had fell to 2% (Bloy).
In May of 1856 Nightingale decided to go to Balaclava to provide aid in their hospitals as well. While there she was struck with the Crimean fever and fell terribly ill for twelve days. After six months in Balaclava, because the hospitals were closed down, she returned to Scutari. She returned home to England August of 1856.
Whene'er is spoken a noble thought,
Our hearts, in glad surprise,
To higher levels rise.
The tidal wave of deeper souls
Into our inmost being rolls,
And lifts us unawares
Out of all meaner cares.
Honour to those whose words or deeds
Thus help us in our daily needs,
And by their overflow
Raise us from what is low!
Thus thought I, as by night I read
Of the great army of the dead,
The trenches cold and damp,
The starved and frozen camp, —
The wounded from the battle-plain,
In dreary hospitals of pain,
The cheerless corridors,
The cold and stony floors.
Lo! in that house of misery
A lady with a lamp I see
Pass through the glimmering gloom,
And flit from room to room.
And slow, as in a dream of bliss,
The speechless sufferer turns to kiss
Her shadow, as it falls
Upon the darkening walls.
As if a door in heaven should be
Opened, and then closed suddenly,
The vision came and went,
The light shone was spent.
On England's annals, through the long
Hereafter of her speech and song,
That light its rays shall cast
From portals of the past.
A lady with a lamp shall stand
In the great history of the land,
A noble type of good,
Heroic womanhood.
Nor even shall be wanting here
The palm, the lily, and the spear,
The symbols that of yore
Saint Filomena bore.
During the winter, because of frost bite and disease in the trenches the hospital became full. With so many patients, short cuts for the sanitation procedures led to the death rate rising to 42%. In February the sanitation commission was ordered to carry of the sanitation reforms, and by June the death rate had fell to 2% (Bloy).
In May of 1856 Nightingale decided to go to Balaclava to provide aid in their hospitals as well. While there she was struck with the Crimean fever and fell terribly ill for twelve days. After six months in Balaclava, because the hospitals were closed down, she returned to Scutari. She returned home to England August of 1856.