Moral Story Series- The Lady With The Lamp

                                 The Lady With The Lamp

                            

Florence Nightingale was born in 1820 in Florence. Her father brought her up with love and care. He instilled in her the importance of women's education. She studied history, mathematics, Italian literature and philosophy from an early age, Florence displayed an extraordinary ability for collecting and analysing data which she could use to great effect in different spheres of life.

Florence Nightingale inherited a liberal humanitarian outlook from both sides of her family. Her mother's father had sat in the House of Commons for almost half a century as an Abolitionist, while Florence's father, William Edward Nightingale, who had inherited an enormous fortune from his uncle, fought hard for the reform of Parliament before settling down to the life of a country gentleman on his estate at Lea Hurst in Derbyshire, and Embley Park in Hampshire.

Although Nightingale had received a good education but she was confined by the traditions and conventions of the society which said that as an upper-middle-class woman she should spend most of her time in frivolous pursuits and domestic routines. Florence struggled hard against these conventions much against the opposition of her family. She felt frustrated by this suffocating existence which, on several occasions, drove her to the edge of a breakdown.

My present life is suicide", she wrote in her diary. "I have no desire, but to die." Believing that she heard the voice of God, calling her to His service, she rejected marriage and decided that her destiny lay in nursing.

Florence's family, which shared the prevalent view that nursing was a disreputable occupation for someone from their background, were appalled at her decision and bitterly opposed her.

In 1845, her parents refused to allow her to nurse at Salisbury Infirmary but Florence managed to go to the Institute of Protestant Deaconesses at Kaiserwerth in Germany and later visited hospitals in London, Edinburgh, Dublin and Paris, gathering details of hospital conditions and nursing methods.

Finally, in 1853, she won her independence and a small income from her father by being appointed as superintendent of the Hospital for Invalid Gentlewomen in Harley Street.

During the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale gained the nickname-'The Lady with the Lamp because when all the medical officers retired for the night Florence Nightingale would make solitary rounds of the hospital ward carrying a little lamp in her hand.

Moral Value- Caring For Others

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