Lesson 6 Florence Nightingale—the World’s Greatest Nurse

Basil Miller

You probably already knew that Florence Nightingale was a great nurse, but did you know she was a great Christian too?

1、Florence Nightingale fought God’s battles with a dingy lamp. She was the lamplighter of the kingdom, for she worked against suffering and disease and sacrificed to make the lot of wounded soldiers better. When she finished the battle of Crimea, she returned to her native land to popularize nurses’ uniforms and nursing institutes. It was she who instituted the competent medical corps which ministers to armies throughout the world.

2、Before she took up the crusade for nursing it was looked upon as work for incompetent down-and-outers, who were unfit to associate with well-born folk. But Florence changed all this and made nursing a profession for brilliant minds and high social rank.

3、Nursing was God’s work for Florence Nightingale, as leading the Reformation was God’s work for Luther, or opening Africa to the Gospel was God’s work for David Livingstone. In the divine program test tubes and lamps are as important in the service of humanity as swords and books and voices. Her one dream was to relieve human suffering,to save lives and bind up broken bodies in the name of the Master.

4、When she went to Scutari in the Crimean War the death rate among soldiers was as high as sixty per cent but when she finished this dropped to three and four per cent.

5、Florence’s interesting career reads like a story book. She lived with one mighty dream luring her onward, that of nursing the sick and caring for the dying.

6、The Nightingales were wealthy and could afford to live wherever they desired.When William Nightingale married he and his beautiful bride toured Europe and traveled where desire directed, roving from city to city, viewing art galleries, talking with strange people, and steeping themselves in the culture of ancient nations. In these roamings they came to Florence, Italy, and on May 12, 1820, the wealthy William was told by the Italian nurse that a daughter was born.

7、William immediately decided that the child should bear the name of the distinguished city of her birth, hence the child was christened Florence. Wealthy William with his wife and child lived in a lovely villa, but Florence was too young to enjoy her surroundings. When the family returned to England, she had the privilege of growing to young womanhood in a two-century old mansion at Lea Hurst. The family also spent part of the time in their more recently built palatial home in Embley Park.

8、In the winter little Florence traveled to London with the family where they participated in the social activities of the elite and noble of the nation. From childhood she was acquainted with the nation’s leading persons, including Queen Victoria.

9、Florence, the popular daughter of the wealthy and highly respected country squire,was chiefly interested in caring for the neighbors whose lives were not so blessed as hers. She rode with the vicar or minister on his mercy-errands ① raced her pony to care for the shepherd’s injured sheep dog, and carried baskets of food to the old ladies whose clamor was, “Send little Florence.” She loved to pick the beautiful flowers which bloomed in the family garden and take them to a sick person in the neighborhood.

10、During those youthful and even childhood days her one longing was to be a nurse.Even though others looked down upon nurses and called them unfit company for cleanminded girls, Florence felt driven to ease the pain and suffering in sick rooms and hospitals.

11、At seventeen she formed a Bible class for the young women of the district. Meetings were held in a tiny chapel on the family estate. She read the Bible to the girls, gave thoughts on the passages, and taught them the precious old hymns.

12、In the winter she went to London as a lady of rank for the social parties and was presented to Queen Victoria. With her sister she explored the art galleries of Italy, visited Germany and toured France where she learned the languages of those nations. She loved to travel, for it gave her an insight into how others lived. This was a preparation for her work as a nurse.

13、Before she was twenty she met the charming Elizabeth Fry, whose Christian influence did so much to change the fate of women prisoners. This Quaker lady and the quiet English girl often talked together. These conversations encouraged Florence in her consuming desire to become a nurse.

14、When she saw the London slums she vowed anew to be a nurse. She was now twenty-one years old. Visiting the hospitals Florence decided that something must be done about the dirty conditions in which patients lived. In those days hospitals were not shining white buildings with clean, painted walls, but they were filthy places. The beds were often unchanged for days and rags littered the halls. Florence said the patients were ‘‘kept like dogs.”

15、At the time nursing was a low profession for haggard ② old women, outcasts from society and dirty women “who had been disappointed in love.” As she observed hospitals Florence felt the divine call to devote her life to lifting the status of the nursing profession.

16、Wealthy William, when he heard of his daughter’s plans to be a nurse, protested violently. He suggested that a wealthy and fitting husband be selected for his daughter to rid her mind of such foolish ideas. But she would have no husband. She declared that if she married at all she would be married to a nurse’s uniform.

17、Wherever she found medical reports, or saw a listing of hospital conditions and expenses, she studied them eagerly. When her family went to Europe, Florence determined to visit a nurses training school founded in Germany. Arriving at Kaiserwerth she entered the nursing institute for a three-month training course while her mother and sister were at the famous Carlsbad baths.

18、She took her work seriously and gave all her attention to mastering every detail in caring for the sick. She knew that henceforth her work in God’s battle was to be fought in a nurse’s uniform and she wanted to be as well equipped as possible. Though she was not aware of it a brilliant future with glowing possibilities lay before her.

19、“A profession,” she said, “something to fill and employ my faculties ③ , I have always longed for. The first thought I can remember, and the last, is nursing work.”

20、She was now thirty-one, a society woman, who detested parties. The thought of a husband and a house to care for did not entice ④ her, and she would have nothing to do with the frivolities ⑤ in which her family and friends engaged. She felt that she was in ‘‘the Lord’s work,” and could not pursue the life William planned for her.

21、Three years later Florence’s opportunity came. The Harley Street Home, a hospital in London for governesses and other well-born folk without money, needed a superintendent ⑥ . The position was offered to Florence. It was not an easy task, nor an important post, yet she felt it to be God’s call. She loved the old governesses who had lost their health while caring for the children of wealthy folk. With her usual ability and thoroughness she completely reorganized the institution. The sponsors and supporters of the hospital were very pleased with her work.

22、Engaging competent nurses, she planned a homelike atmosphere. The hospital became an experiment station where practical ideas of administration, sanitation, and sick-bed routine were introduced. At last Florence was in charge of her own hospital where she was free to carry out her own ideas. She was happy.

23、God’s time for Florence to start a national program of nursing reform was at hand.The nation was at war. In the Crimea, on the border between Russia and Turkey, English sons were dying like flies. Soldiers were there to protect the interests of Turkey against Russia.

24、A London Times’ journalist who visited the battlefield and observed the treatment of the wounded stirred ⑦ the nation with his vivid accounts of neglect and death. He said, “The commonest accessories of a hospital are wanting; there is not the least attention paid to decency or clean linen; the unpleasant smell is shocking; the unsavory air can hardly struggle out to affect the atmosphere. The sick appear to be tended by the sick, and the dying by the dying.”

25、The cry, “Send nurses,” arose in England. “But what nurses?” William Howard,the correspondent, asked, “Are there no devoted women among us, able and willing to go forth to minister to the sick and suffering soldiers in the hospitals at Scutari? Are there none of the daughters of England at this extreme hour of need ready for such work of mercy?”

26、Through Sir Sidney Herbert, head of the War Department, the nation answered the call with one name, Florence Nightingale. He immediately wrote Florence asking if she would undertake the venture. At that same moment Florence was sitting at her desk writing a letter in which she volunteered to become a nurse in the Scutari hospitals.Their letters crossed. The next day the War Department announced, “A lady with greater practical experience of hospital administration and treatment than any other lady of the country has been appointed superintendent of nurses at Scutari.”

27、Six days later Florence had selected her corps of nurses and was ready to sail for Scutari. These angels of mercy, as they were called, took the train on October 21, 1854,for an English Channel crossing. The next morning the women of France greeted them,“Welcome, welcome, our English sisters.” The eyes of the world were centered upon Florence and her army nurses who were the first to venture into army hospitals to care for the wounded and dying.

28、The group arrived at Scutari, a suburb of Constantinople on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus two weeks later. Two horrible battles had just been fought and the wounded arrived by boatloads. There was no place to house them. Everything was in a miserable state. Train loads of clothes and food routed to the hospital had been lost, and there were no sheets or mattresses. The ugly building was littered with dying men.

29、Florence Nightingale—the World’s Greatest Nurse Lesson 6Florence organized the nurses and the less sick soldiers for washing linens, scrubbing floors and cleaning beds. She organized a kitchen team which prepared nourishing food for the patients. Heretofore they had all been fed from a common pot. Both the sick and the well had received the same heavy, greasy, half-done food.

30、At night Florence with her lamp in hand walked through miles of hospital beds,answering sick calls, soothing hot brows and taking last messages to be written to parents and families. She did all in her power to bring a woman’s tender relief to the sick and dying.

31、The fame of Florence Nightingale spread, and throughout the world she was known as The Lady of the Lamp.

32、Longfellow enshrined ⑧ her memory in his poem.

33、Lo! in that house of misery

A lady with a lamp I see

Pass through the glimmering gloom,

And flit ⑨ from room to room.

34、And slow, as in a dream of bliss,

The speechless sufferer turns to kiss

Her shadow, as it falls

Upon the darkening walls.

35、In two weeks she brought order and cleanliness out of disorder and filth. The dirty den became spotless. The men were washed, well fed, and cared for by compassionate women, and Florence provided homes for the wives of the sick soldiers.

36、Her fame reached England where she was given orders to institute an army hospital reform. The results of her work have become the basis for army medical practice ever since. She underwent this strain until her health broke. Even then she did not return home to recover till the battle was won.

37、When the team of nurses sailed home Florence avoided the public acclaim ⑩the nation had prepared for her. Instead of landing in London where the royal reception awaited, she took a different train and got off at a little station near her home and walked to the back door of the family palace. She possessed a humble spirit.

38、“How can we honor her?” the nation asked. The question was answered when Florence said, “Build a nurses’ training institute for me.” This was done and the Nightingale Training School for Nurses in connection with St. Thomas’ Hospital in London was opened in 1861. Miss Nightingale knew that the only way to lift the status of nurses was to train carefully selected applicants. This she did, and her project gained worldwide recognition.

39、Today all nurse training centers owe their existence to Florence Nightingale’s first institute. She also wrote a practical book entitled Notes on Nursing, which for years has been a standard text on the subject. Also, she had much to do with bringing the Red Cross into army medical procedures. Though not present at the conference in Switzerland where the Red Cross charter and treaty was drawn up, it was her spirit, her work,the path she made and the ideas she set forth which brought the Red Cross into being.

40、She lived to be very old and during the latter part of her life remained in seclusion.On August 13, 1910, at the age of ninety she died. To the end she felt herself a worker with God. She said, “You know that through all these horrible years, I have been supported by the belief that I was working with You.”

(2,013 words)

Exercises

Ⅰ. How well did you read?

1. [Give the reason] Florence Nightingale was from a wealthy family and did not need to work. Why did she become a nurse when she could have done almost anything?

2. [Note the fact] What did Florence Nightingale do for the nursing profession?

3. [Evaluate the information] How did Florence Nightingale react to the acclaim after she came back from the battle? What qualities were reflected in her reaction?

4. [Understand the main idea] Explain how Florence Nightingale was working for God. Do you believe that God has His own work for each person?

Ⅱ. Read for words and expressions:

1. Choose one best paraphrase for the underlined words.

(1) It was she who instituted the competent medical corps which ministers to armies throughout the world. (Para. 1, line 5)

A. similarB. capableC. appropriate

(2) She lived with one mighty dream luring her onward, that of nursing the sick and caring for the dying. (Para. 5, line 2)

A. attracting B. dragging C. stopping

(3) In these roamings they came to Florence, Italy, and on May 12, 1820, the wealthy William was told by the Italian nurse that a daughter was born. (Para. 6, lines 4~5)

A. holidays in foreign countries B. winding paths

C. traveling in different places

(4) These conversations encouraged Florence in her consuming desire to become a nurse. (Para. 13, line 4)

A. strong B. used up C. destroying

2. Choose one best paraphrase for the underlined expressions.

(1) When William Nightingale married he and his beautiful bride toured Europe and traveled where desire directed, roving from city to city, viewing art galleries, talking with strange people, and steeping themselves in the culture of ancient nations (Para. 6, line 4).

A. being a rapid and intensive decline or increase in

B. spending a lot of time thinking or learning about

C. extremely attracted by

(2) When the family returned to England, she had the privilege of growing to young womanhood in a two-century old mansion at Lea Hurst. (Para. 7, line 4)

A. had the right to do things without risking punishment

B. had the special right to enjoy

C. was lucky to have the chance to enjoy

(3) From childhood she was acquainted with the nation’s leading persons, including Queen Victoria. (Para. 8, line 3)

A. was familiar with

B. deliberately found out about

C. gave information about

(4) He immediately wrote Florence asking if she would undertake the venture. (Para.26, line 3)

A. take a chance

B. dare to attempt to do something

C. do something in an uncertain way for fear that it was wrong

Ⅲ. Writing practice.

Describe how Florence Nightingale became a great nurse, what contributions she has made to the nursing profession and what you can learn from her within 100 words.