The Lady of the Lamp“If there were no one who was not unhappy with what he has, the world would never achieve something better . » Here are some of the most heartbreaking and enlightening words from perhaps the most influential nurse of all time, Florence Nightingale. She was a pioneer for women around the world, as nurses of the time were neither female nor trained, and she broke the barriers of both.Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayFlorence Nightingale was born in 1820 in Italy to politically liberal parents who believed in women's education and abolition. His father was a wealthy British landowner, which allowed him to visit hospitals in London. At the time, nursing was a profession that required little more than simply giving medicine to the sick, and it was a profession more or less left to the lower and working classes. However, during her travels, Florence noticed the health practices of the nuns, which inspired her to become a nurse. She began her studies in 1851, and two years later obtained the post of superintendent of the Hospital for Invalid Gentlewomen in London. Interestingly enough, she had turned down a proposal from a high-class gentleman in order to make this dream come true. This proves that then as now, women could accomplish things without a man. The same year, the Crimean War broke out. Hundreds of British soldiers were dying, but not in combat. They were dying of illnesses contracted in hospitals. Florence Nightingale was recruited by the Secretary of War to work in the hospitals where soldiers were taken, the most famous of which was called Scutari. Unfortunately, there was still much prejudice against Nightingale working in hospitals, and hospital doctors considered it a personal insult for her to criticize their working conditions. Nightingale sent a message to London and gained financial support for her goals, and the hospital mortality rate fell from 40% to 2%. Patients called her “Lady of the Lamp” because only she was allowed into the patient room at night. While working in hospitals, she kept records and charts, graphs and plots, of every kind of statistic she could get. hands on. She then used them to campaign for improved hospital conditions in front of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, leading to the establishment of a military medical school in 1859. Keep in mind: this is not just a sample. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.Get a custom essayOur world has had the opportunity to make enormous progress in all kinds of fields: in technology, in communication, in the medical field, in transportation, in science. Yet, as Florence Nightingale so eloquently puts it, this was only possible because people saw a need that needed to be filled, and they filled it. While revolutionizing nursing and health practices in hospitals was an absolutely vital necessity, the war continued to kill more and more men. With greater progression in keeping soldiers alive, greater progression in killing methods. Industrialism is different everywhere, but in terms of war it meant that, just to keep up with the times, it was absolutely necessary for someone like Florence Nightingale to come along. If she had not done so, many others..