The story of Florence Nightingale

Hello and welcome to a new episode of History in 7 Facts, the show in which we explore some interesting episodes of humanity's past. Check out this playlist to watch the entire series, and don't forget to subscribe if you want to see more videos like this one. Florence Nightingale, the lady with the lamp, entered the history books as one of the most iconic figures of the Victorian era, as a social reformer, a statistician and as the founder of modern nursing. Her work started in 1854, when Florence took on the management of the Selimiye Barracks Hospital in Scutari, near Constantinople. At the time, the Crimean War was already ongoing. Florence was just 34 years old, but her strong will was about to change medical care forever. She had to manage six kilometers of hospital beds, laid one next to another, on wooden floors that were so rotten, they couldn't be cleaned properly. The walls were covered in grime, and the smell was unbearable, mostly due to the clogged sewerage. The death rate in this hospital was strangely high, but at the time no one knew why, and no one cared. The efforts of this lady changed nursing forever, and she became a true legend of her time. Florence travelled to the following the footsteps of the 28,000 British soldiers who came to assist the Ottomans faced with Russian aggression. By the time she arrived to Scutari, the British were already in the fight. The war was bloody and ruthless, and wounded soldiers were shipped across the Black Sea, from the Crimean peninsula to Scutari, a journey that took two weeks. Many soldiers had their limbs amputated, or were delirious, but this hospital wasn't gonna bring them any comfort. According to the army officials, the hospital had no needs and was given sufficient support. But the sheets were rough and thin, there were no bandages or splints, no clothing for the patients, the kitchen was appalling, there was no laundry or access to hot water. The image of this hospital shocked even seasoned surgeons and soldiers that served in other wars. Florence believed this appalling situation must change. She reported what she saw to the Times newspaper, and managed to acquire a sizable donation. With this money, she bought soap, clothing, cutlery and towels, she'd redone the kitchen and the laundry, and bought new sheets and decent food. She managed to do all this in spite of the carelessness and resistance from the medical staff and the military. What she did was nothing short of a miracle. She also gained the nickname Lady with the Lamp, as she often comforted the sick and dying at the dim light of her lamp. She even sent letters to the families of the fallen soldiers. In short, she gave hope to those who had none. But everything she had done, all of her achievements were still not enough. In spite of all of her efforts, the sick were still dying. In the winter of 1854, twice as many patients at Scutari died than in other, smaller hospitals. By the end of that winter, half of her patients, nearly 5000 people, were dead. If you do the math, that means that roughly 50 people were dying per day. But most weren't dying from their injuries or from the cold, they were dying from infections. Florence was now the victim of her own success. As the hospital was getting cleaner and more efficient, more and more patients were brought here. But the microbes that were hiding in the sewerage system were still there, and the larger population meant more infected. Florence Nightingale was a skilled leader and a great organizer, thanks to her discipline. But she had no formal medical training. Florence was a self-taught nurse from a rich noble family. She was supposed to get married to an equally wealthy man and have children, but she had other ideas. At the age of 25, she already wanted to work at the Salisbury Hospital as a nurse, but her mother strictly forbade it. And she had a point. At the time, nursing wasn't seen as a noble career, certainly not for a lady. In the 19th century, nurses were known as a graceless and depraved bunch, not as the caregivers. Nevertheless, Nightingale never gave up on her dreams. In 1853, at the age of 34, without any medical training, Nightingale took the post of superintendent at the Institute for the Care of Sick Gentlewomen in Upper Harley Street. Less than one year later, the Crimean War broke out, and she appealed to her friend Sidney Herbert, who also happened to be the Secretary of War, and she got the job at Scutari. Just two years later, she returned to England as a national hero, a reformer that proved nurses can help immensely in a time of war. But when she returned, she wasn't the same person. What she saw there marked her for life. She was now an ailing woman, suffering from depression that often closed herself in her room for days and even weeks. She never fully recovered. Her doctors recommended lots of rest, but she ignored their advice. She asked William Farr, an epidemiologist and statistician, to teach her how she can analyze data from Scutari. She worked tirelessly, examining in detail all the death reports from the hospital. In 1857, after she managed to compare data from other hospitals, she came to the conclusion that her patients didn't just die from their injuries. The diseases were generated right in the salons. There was a 25% higher rate of dysentery and other digestive infections than in any other hospital. This relevation must have shocked her even more and deeply saddened her. But still, she didn't give up. What she did in the rest of her lives gives her the deserving spot in the history books. Others might have tried to conceal such information, but not Florence. She published her work and managed to convince people that infections were a major cause of death in military hospitals. She would later be elected as the first female member of the Royal Statistical Society. This still wasn't enough for her and she continued her work. When French chemist Louis Pasteur launched the idea that microbes could be the reason for infections, aka the germ theory, Nightingale became a vocal leader of the antiseptic movement. Hygiene was the difference between life and death. She managed to persuade a strongly opposing Minister of War to create a Royal Commission on the Health of the Army. This commission was based entirely on Florence Nightingale's report on medical care during the Crimean War and introduced new medical practices saving the lives of many soldiers in the colonial war of India. In 1859, her book Notes on Nursing introduced some medical practices that are still in use to this day. Even though she wasn't healthy, she never gave up on her struggle. In the 1890s, she attacked the medical scientists for transforming germ theory into an excuse for poor hygiene. She knew that preventing infections is a titanic struggle and the authorities would rather minimize the impact of hygiene. She dedicated the rest of her life to this cause and by doing so, changed and saved the lives of countless thousands. On August 13th, 1910, at the age of 90, she died peacefully while sleeping in her room in London, but her legacy is still with us to this day. Thank you for watching this episode of 7 Facts. I hope this was interesting and informative and maybe it even inspired you to look into it further on your own. If you liked this video, please, thumbs up and subscribe. While you're downstairs, let me know what you think about this video. Please consider visiting my Patreon page and become a patron. The link is in the description. I hope to see you next time. Bye.