---
title: 10 Things to Know About Florence Nightingale
url: "https://arizonacollege.edu/blog/10-things-you-should-know-about-florence-nightingale/"
type: post
date_published: 2020-06-18
date_modified: 2025-12-11
schema:
  @type: Article
language: en-US
word_count: 851
reading_time: 5 min
canonical: "https://arizonacollege.edu/blog/10-things-you-should-know-about-florence-nightingale/"
featured_image: "https://arizonacollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Florencenightingale.webp"
categories:
  - General
topic:
  - Nursing
---

# 10 Things to Know About Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale, a British nurse, notably known for her incredible impact
on the nursing profession, is remembered and celebrated for her great
achievements year-round. Although Nightingale has done so much throughout her
life, many people do not know that much about her. Here are ten things you
should know about Florence Nightingale.

![nursing school blog post about florence nightingale](https://arizonacollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Florencenightingale.webp?w=1024)

**1\. Her family did not want her to be a nurse**

When Florence was 16, she knew that nursing was her true calling. Her parents,
however, were against it. It was expected that someone of Nightingale’s social
stature would marry and raise a family, not take up a profession. Going against
the wishes of her family, she refused to get married at the age of 17 and
continued her nursing education at the Lutheran Hospital of Pastor Fliedner in
Germany. 

### 󠀁**2\. Florence had a natural skill for analyzing data**󠁿

Analyzing, classifying, and documenting data was a skill that naturally came to
Florence. She was able to look at data, draw conclusions, and create a picture
of the results in her mind. She also created the first pie charts called
coxcombs while working with Dr. William Farr. Nightingale eventually became the
first female of the Royal Statistical Society due to her pioneering work.

### 󠀁**3\. She loved to write**󠁿

Nightingale had a passion for writing, as she wrote more than 150 books and
pamphlets. She published medical books, including ‘Notes on Hospital’ (1859) and
‘Notes on Nursing’ (1859), which laid the foundations for modern nursing
practice. Florence also wrote books about religion and mysticism, and much of
her writing was influenced by her feminist identity.

### 󠀁**4\. She had a significant role during the Crimean War**󠁿

Florence worked as a nurse during the Crimean War helping wounded soldiers. At
first, the army doctors did not want her or the other nurses to help, even
though they had been swamped. They saw Nightingale’s opinions as attacks on
their professionalism. It wasn’t until the doctorsdoctor’s became overwhelmed by
bodies when they asked for assistance. Florence and the other nurses were able
to improve medical and sanitary arrangements, set up food kitchens, wash linens
and clothes, wrote write home on behalf of the soldiers, and introduce
introduced reading rooms.

### 󠀁**5\. Lady with the Lamp**󠁿

During her work in the Crimean War, Florence would nurse soldiers at night. She
would carry a lamp with her during her rounds which would lead to her nickname
“Lady with the Lamp.” She grew to be a person of fame as people were captivated
by the lady who walked around with the lamp.

### 󠀁**6\. Founder of modern nursing**󠁿

Nightingale is referred to as the founder of modern nursing. She proposed ways
of improving sanitation, which is a foundation of modern medicine. During the
war, Florence wrote to Lord Raglan, the British commander in the Crimea, about
the shortcomings in the medical arrangements for the sick and wounded and the
shortage of trained medical orderlies in the wards. She stressed that many lives
may depend depended on whether the issues were addressed or not. This effort
made a huge impact and Florence went on to make sure things were sanitized in
hospitals around England. This enabled more women to join the nursing profession
with Nightingale advocating for education to elevate the nursing profession. 

### 󠀁**7\. She spoke many languages**󠁿

Florence was fluent in many languages. Some of them included English, German,
French, and Italian. She also had the basic knowledge and understanding of Greek
and Latin.

### 󠀁**8\. She loved to travel**󠁿

Traveling was a passion for Florence. On her trips, she loved to gain insight
and knowledge about medicine. Medical tourism was invented because of her.
Florence always encouraged her patients to travel to other countries where the
medical costs were much cheaper and the medicines, standard of living, and
nutrition were available at a cheaper cost.

### 󠀁**9\. A training school for nurses was established in her honor**󠁿

In 1860, Nightingale founded the world’s first nursing school, at St. Thomas
Hospital in London. Within the hospital, the Nightingale Training School for
Nurses was established. Florence trained many nurses who were sent to hospitals
around Britain to share Nightingale’s expertise.

### 󠀁**10\. Florence is still being honored to this day**󠁿

The achievements of Florence ‘s life are still being honored today with
celebrations, awards, and more. Nightingale ‘s birthday is recognized as
International Nurses Day every year on May 12th. This day is used to celebrate
the contributions nurses make to society. The 200th birthday of Florence was
celebrated on May 12th, 2020. 

The International Committee of the Red Cross has also established the Florence
Nightingale Medal. Exceptional nurses are awarded the medal every two years.

There is also the Florence Nightingale Museum located at St. Thomas Hospital in
London. The museum is to commemorate the life and career of Florence and holds
over 2,000 artifacts. 

We continue to honor the legacy of Florence Nightingale every day. Before her
impact, nursing was not considered a respectable profession. To this day,
Nightingale has been remembered as the pioneer of modern medicine nursing. Every
day, she continues to inspire future nurses.

**Categories:** General