FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE was born into a very opulent Victorian family. Despite a superior education, she was prescribed to play the minor role of an aristocrat wife, according to the customs of that time. She could not accept these limitations. Traveling in European countries, she studied pilot experiences in what became her life dedication: public health and “nursing”. In the Crimean War, soldiers were dying much more of infections and unsanitary conditions than combat. She convinced the political and military authorities to give her team a chance to demonstrate the effectiveness of her methods: hygiene, ventilation, lighting, sanitation, clean linen and dressings, as well as empathy, compassion and listening. The results were very convincing. She also developed statistical methods in public health and she diffused throughout the world, the practice of nursing that saved until nowadays so many lives.
© Alice Labrèque and Jean Routier, 2012