From Reform to Modern Nursing: Nightingale’s Legacy and the Rise of Evidence-Based Practice

History of Nursing: From Nightingale to Modern Practice

The Florence Nightingale era is most definitely the most important period in the evolution of nursing as a profession. In prior eras, the nursing role was considered one for the immoral, illiterate, inconsiderate, rough, and alcoholic individuals.

Perhaps, the reformation era depicts the low social standing of the nursing role. In the reformation era, judges would hand out three options for prostitutes. They had to choose to work in the poorhouse, go to jail, or work in a public hospital (Chapnick, 2023).

The element of nursing as an art or science was largely absent. With the emergence of the influential Florence Nightingale, nursing began taking shape as a profession with a significant level of organization and reputable social standing.

Among the fundamental changes that Nightingale introduced was to create relatively satisfying and comfortable working conditions for her team of nuns or healthcare workers, and a comfortable healing environment for the ailing and injured soldiers in the camp.

Nightingale introduced internal sanitation policies characterized by clean beddings and dressings, fresh air, palatable and well-cooked food for ailing patients as well as regular patient monitoring during the night with her lantern/lamp (Masters, 2020).

However, more important, is the reality that Nightingale shaped the science aspect of nursing via focused and data-based approaches to prevention-based nursing. Her scholarly publications, such as “Sick Nursing and Health Nursing” and “Health Teaching in Towns and Villages” set the foundation for the development of nursing curriculum and the reorganization of nursing care into a fully-pledged profession (Chapnick, 2023).

Everything positive change that has happened to the nursing profession is an extension of the foundations of Florence Nightingale’s work. In particular, the contemporary realignment and reshaping of public health policies along the concepts of nursing as well as the adoption of evidence-based nursing practice are projections of the social activism initiated by Nightingale. Nightingale’s social activism for the profession was focused on the creation of a profession that is respected, impactful, and organized.

References

• Chapnick, M. (2023). Chapter 1: A History of Health Care and Nursing [PowerPoint]. Jones & Bartlett Publishing.
• Masters, K. (2020). Role development in professional nursing practice (5th ed.). Jones & Bartlett, MA.
• Here’s a cleanly formatted version of your questions and answers with numbering and bolded answers:

Florence Nightingale Exam Prep Guide: Practice Questions with Answers 

1. 1. What is Florence Nightingale’s birth-date?
      May 12, 1820
   2. What war did she serve as a nurse in the hospitals?
      Crimean War
   3. Did her parents want her to be a nurse?
      No; nurses were looked at as unimportant and low status
   4. What relative worked under her in the hospitals during the war?
      Her aunt
   5. What did Florence do to change the nursing practice?
      Emphasized the importance of proper nutrition, rest, sanitation, and hygiene
   6. What was Florence the pioneer of?
      The first nursing school
   7. Who wrote the Nightingale Pledge?
      Lystra Getter
   8. What was the condition of the hospitals prior to Florence Nightingale’s recommendations?
      Poor condition and unsanitary
   9. Before Florence Nightingale, nurses were commonly thought of as?
      "Vulgar", "uneducated", and "unclean"
   10. What year(s) was the Crimean War?
       1854–1856
   11. Nightingale founded the first secular nursing school in the world located where?
       St. Thomas' Hospital in London
   12. Florence Nightingale believed that nursing should not only promote health but also?
       How to prevent illness
   13. During her time in the war, she contracted what?
       Crimean Fever
   14. International Nurses Day is celebrated on what day?
       May 12, the day of Florence Nightingale’s birth
   15. In 1883, Queen Victoria awarded Florence Nightingale with?
       The Royal Red Cross
   16. Where was Nightingale offered a place of burial?
       In Westminster Abbey, London
   17. What graveyard was Nightingale actually buried in?
       St. Margaret Church in East Wellow, Hampshire
   18. What is an iconic symbol associated with Florence Nightingale?
       A lamp
   19. Her early writings are considered as?
       Major texts in English feminism
   20. When were her writings published?
       After her death
   21. What year was she the first woman to be awarded the Order of Merit?
       1907
   22. We have VON today because Florence established it in England in what year?
       1935
   23. What is Florence Nightingale known for doing?
       Transformed hospitals and developed the modern nursing profession
   24. Today we continue to rely on what to gather important information about our patients?
       The nursing assessment
   25. Patients on smaller incomes traveled to places like Turkey to access what?
       Spas, medical treatment, and good nutrition at a much lower cost
   26. What disease did many of Nightingale’s coworkers and patients die from?
       A form of typhus
   27. A service for International Nurses Day is celebrated where?
       Westminster Abbey in London
   28. Nightingale believed that women were often unnecessarily deemed as?
       Helpless
   29. Nightingale educated those around her about?
       Proper hand hygiene and the importance of maintaining a sterile field when necessary
   30. What did Nightingale believe regarding health of houses?

• Attention to pure air
• Pure water
• Efficient drainage
• Cleanliness
• Light