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food and medicines. Many of the soldiers died
due to neglect. Then Florence Nightingale with
a group of 35 other nurses came to this hospital.
She saw that the hospital was in fact a hell but
she neither lost heart nor accepted defeat.
Florence Nightingale took upon herself the task
of ensuring that each patient received what he
needed. She gave them medicines, comforted
them and instilled courage in them. She and
the other nurses cleaned the floors, collected
money to buy clothes and medicines and saw to
it that every patient was cared for. She worked
all the twenty hours and at night she walked to
the wards carrying a lamp to see if all was well with her patients.
Her very presence kindled hope in the patients. She came
to be fondly called as “The Lady with the Lamp.” Why was Florence Nightingale
called “The Lady with the Lamp”?
Florence Nightingale was born in a rich family and could
have led a life of luxury but she dedicated her entire life to the nursing profession.
Even as a girl, she was very sensitive to the suffering of others. Once her sister tore a
doll into pieces. Little Florence burst into tears. She stitched the torn pieces together
and nursed the doll as if it was a human. When a dog in her house was injured she
cleaned and dressed the wound and looked after it till it got well.
When Florence was seventeen, she declared that she wanted to become a nurse. Her
parents were not happy to hear this. But Florence had already made up her mind. She
entered Salisbury Hospital as a nurse and worked for eight years. In 1851, in Germany,
a priest called Theodore Fleidner founded a hospital. He and his wife trained girls to
become nurses. Florence Nightingale also visited the hospital and learnt a great deal
about nursing. The experience she gained there laid the foundation for the work she
did later.
After three years, Florence came to London. She worked as the superintendent of a
hospital in Hanley Street, in London. It was a hospital meant to serve poor women
patients. She brought about several changes to improve the conditions there. Her
tireless and devoted care saved even the patients who were given up by doctors.
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