Florence Nightingale: Lighting the Way

This groundbreaking English nurse saved thousands of injured soldiers’ lives and revolutionized 19th-century sanitation in the medical field.

A 1857 sketch of Scutari Barracks and Hospital, now known as Selimiye Barracks, was illustrated by Lady Alicia Blackwood. Florence Nightingale earned her superlative reputation by applying hygienic practices at the institution. Public Domain

“Conceit and Nursing cannot exist in the same person, any more than new patches on an old garment,” wrote Florence Nightingale in her first annual address to the nurses of the Nightingale School at St. Thomas’ Hospital in 1872. Shy and socially awkward, Nightingale remained humble despite her personal achievements.

Though she’s most remembered today for the sanitation reforms she instituted during the Crimean War (1853–1856), her influence continues to be felt in a surprising number of ways.