15 Florence Nightingale Facts Every Nurse Should Know (Part 1)

Most students, in nursing school or otherwise, have heard of the famous Florence Nightingale. Yet many may not know some of the most interesting and amazing facts about her life that make her such an inspiration to those in the nursing profession around the world. In honor of National Nurse Week, take some time to read through these facts about one of the most famous pioneers in the field. You might just get inspired to lead your own health care revolution

1. Born into a wealthy, upper class family in the early 19th century, Nightingale was never expected to pursue her own career. Her family wanted her to get married and have children, not work in a hospital. Yet she rejected marriage proposals, fearing that they would get in the way of her work, and pushed on with her career in spite of it being a great point of contention with her family.

2. She got her name "Lady with the Lamp" from the lamp she carried with her as she checked on patients in the battlefield hospital during the Crimean War. She had a habit of checking on patients in the middle of the night while carrying a simple oil lamp, a romantic image of nursing that survives to this day in her legacy.

3. She would play an instrumental role in setting up proper military hospitals in the United States during the American Civil War. Her experience in the Crimean War, along with her reputation for revolutionizing nursing care, made her an ideal choice to advise how the army should set up hospitals in the U.S. While she faced some initial opposition, her ideas were generally adapted.

4. Nightingale founded the first secular nursing school in the world at St. Thomas' Hospital in London. It is still there today, training nurses for work as RNs and midwives and happens to be the number one nursing school in London.

5. She traveled extensively, studying hospitals in places like Greece, Egypt and Germany– journeys which would be the inspiration for her career in nursing. It was during her time in Egypt that Nightingale wrote of feeling "called to God" to a career in nursing and when she returned to Europe, stopping in Germany she spent four months training at The Institution of Kaiserswerth on the Rhine. When she returned home, she was ready to begin her nursing career in earnest.