Florence Nightingale (redirected from Lady with the Lamp)

Nightingale, Florence 

Born May 12, 1820, in Florence; died Aug. 13, 1910, in London. English nurse and public figure.

Nightingale studied the organization of aid to the ill in the hospitals of Germany and France. During the Crimean War of 1853–56, she and 38 female aides organized the first service for the wounded in the British Army, which sharply reduced mortality in the field hospitals. In 1860, Nightingale organized the world’s first school for nurses at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London. Until 1872 she served as an expert for the British Army on matters of medical service for the sick and wounded. She wrote a number of works about the system of caring for the sick and wounded, including Notes on Nursing and Notes on Hospitals, which were translated into Russian.

In 1912 the International Red Cross Committee established a medal in her name as the highest award for nurses distinguishing themselves in caring for the sick and wounded. By 1974 the medal had been bestowed on 712 persons, among whom were 19 Soviet nurses and public health instructors, including Heroes of the Soviet Union Z. M. Tusnolobova-Marchenko, M. S. Shkarletova, I. N. Levchenko, and V. S. Kashcheeva.

REFERENCES

Reitenbarg, D. “Florentsiia Naitingeil.” Meditsinskaia sestra, 1960, nos. 7–8.
Horndasch, M. Die Lady mit der Lampe. Bonn, 1948.
Bishop, W., and S. Goldle. A Biobibliography of Florence Nightingale. London, 1962.

L. A. STANKEVICH