“The ultimate destination of all nursing is the nursing of the sick in their own homes....I look to the abolition of all hospitals and workhouse infirmaries.”
—Florence Nightingale
“醫護行業終極目標是要往在患者家中護理病人方向發展。……因此，我一直期待著所有醫療機構都消失的那一天。”
——佛羅倫斯·南丁格爾
Lady with the Lamp—Florence Nightingale
提燈女士——佛羅倫斯·南丁格爾
Florence Nightingale entered the hospital and was appalled and horrified by what she saw. Wounded soldiers lay on straw mats that lined the room like coffins waiting for burial. The floor was covered with dirt and blood. There were no hospital gowns： the men still wore their uniforms. As Nightingale passed them， each soldier tried to act stern and tough， but their boyish faces betrayed unmistakable pain. Those who were able to conquer their convulsions lay still， as if dead.
These were the hospital conditions in Scutari， Turkey during the Crimean War. Florence and a group of nurses were sent to this hospital to help make the hospital a more efficient place. The first change Florence made was scrubbing all the injured men's clothes. Then， she spent her own money buying bandages， operating tables and other basic necessities for the hospital. Her nurses cleaned the whole hospital so there were no more germs and this helped to stop contamination and spread of disease. She is a hero because she changed the hospital and saved lives with her determination and hard work. Florence Nightingale also changed the profession of nursing forever. Nursing was once an occupation with little respect： people didn't think you needed any special training or skills to do it， and most nurses were poor and uneducated. It was very unusual for Florence， who came from the upper class， to work in a hospital. The hospital conditions were more sanitary after she reorganized everything. Funds and donations flooded into hospitals and the patients received better care. Hospitals around the world were changed forever， and caring for the sick became an honorable profession.
Nightingale was born in Florence， Italy on May 12， 1820. Although Italian born， she grew up in London， England， where her education included the study of Greek， Latin， German， French and Italian. Her father taught her history and philosophy while her governess schooled her in music and drawing. As part of an upper class family， Nightingale and her sister were expected to grow up as proper ladies who would “devote themselves to their family， husband， society， entertainment and cultural pursuits”.