The lady with the lamp

Florence Nightingale is famous initiator of the nursing profession and reformations in the hospitals. Florence Nightingale's lasting contribution has been her role in founding the modern nursing profession. She set an example of compassion, commitment to patient care, and diligent and thoughtful hospital administration.

Florence Nightingale was born in a rich, upper-class well-connected English family at the Villa Colombaia.

Inspired by what she took as a Christian divine calling, experienced first in 1837 at Embley Park and later throughout Florence's life, she committed herself to nursing (though discouraged by her parents). This demonstrated a passion on her part, and also a rebellion against the expected role for a woman of her status, which was to become a wife and mother. In those days, nursing was a career with a poor reputation, filled mostly by poorer women. Nightingale announced her decision to enter nursing in 1845 bringing intense anger and distress to her family, particularly her mother.

Florence Nightingale's most famous contribution came during the Crimean War, which became her central focus when reports began to filter back to Britain about the horrific conditions for the wounded. On 21 October 1854, she and a staff of 38 women volunteer nurses, trained by Nightingale and including her aunt Mai Smith, were sent (under the authorization of Sidney Herbert) to Turkey, about 545 km across the Black Sea from Balaklava in the Crimea, where the main British camp was based.

Medicines were in short supply, hygiene was being neglected, and mass infections were common, many of them fatal. There was no equipment to process food for the patients. Florence and her colleagues began by thoroughly cleaning the hospital and equipment and reorganizing patient care.

Nightingale wrote Notes on Nursing, which was published in 1860, a slim 136 page book that served as the cornerstone of the curriculum at the Nightingale School and other nursing schools established. Notes on Nursing also sold well to the general reading public and is considered a classic introduction to nursing. Nightingale would spend the rest of her life promoting the establishment and development of the nursing profession and organizing it into its modern form.

In 1869, Nightingale and Elizabeth Blackwell opened the Women's Medical College.

In the 1870s, Nightingale mentored Linda Richards, "America's first trained nurse", and enabled her to return to the USA with adequate training and knowledge to establish quality nursing schools. Linda Richards went on to become a great nursing pioneer in the USA and Japan.

In 1883, Nightingale was awarded the Royal Red Cross by Queen Victoria. In 1907, she became the first woman to be awarded the Order of Merit. In 1908, she was given the Honorary Freedom of the City of London.

She died on the 13th of August in 1910. Her birthday is now celebrated as the International CFS Awareness Day.

Red Cross and Crescent League instituted Florence Nightingale medal. AzRCS was also awarded with the Florence Nightingale medal During the Soviet period nurse Sariyya Mammadova was awarded with this medal in 1978, Rashida Gasimzadeh was awarded in 1983.

The nurses of AzRCS Gizbes Asadova, Durra Mammadova, Firuza Aliyeva were awarded with this medal in 2005, Zahra Mammadova, Sadet Mammadova and Lamara Akhundova were awarded with this medal in 2007.