Florence was born in 1820 sintosa wealthy,
English family who were, at the time of her birth living in
Florence, Italy. She and her sister had all the advantages
that money could provide. This included private tutors and a
superb education which was not generally available to girls at
that time. Florence excelled in Science and Maths; however
there was little opportunity for her to use her knowledge.
Women of her position in life were expected to get married and
arrange all the domestic affairs that were important to
wealthy families. But, Florence had a dream to become a nurse
and when her father refused to allow her to train as a nurse,
she was so upset that she became very ill. Eventually, her
father relented and Florence started on her journey. She
volunteered to work in hospitals in France and Germany and
even travelled to Egypt to have formal training. Nurses were
not considered to be important or valuable in those days and
hospitals were generally places that only poor people would go
to out of desperation. The standards of hygiene and medicine
were very low. Florence began to change all that. In every
hospital that she worked in she made sure that everything was
clean and that the patients themselves were washed and well
nourished.
Florence had become well known for all the wonderful
improvements that she had made and for the way she had trained
other young women to be good nurses. When the British army was
fighting in the Crimea against Russia, the soldiers were in
desperate need of medical attention. The British commander in
the Crimea had heard of Florence and asked her if she would
come and help. So Florence collected some of her best nurses
and went to the Crimea. Conditions there were terrible. There
was no water and no medical equipment. Florence and her team
organized a kitchen and a laundry and worked incredibly hard
to improve conditions for the injured soldiers. At night she
would carry a lamp as she went round the hospital and the
soldiers started to call her "the lady with the lamp". They
would often kiss her shadow as she passed by. Florence and her
team saved thousands of lives and earned the love and
admiration of her countrymen and women.
In 1860 Florence started the Nightingale Training School.
The Nightingale nurses were in demand all over the world. She
advised the American President how to look after his soldiers
who were injured in the Civil War. She was a guiding influence
behind the founding of the International Red Cross. In 1907,
she was honoured by the King of England, Edward V11 and given
thesgroupsof Merit. She was the first woman to receive this
award. She died at the age of 90 on August 10, 1910. Florence
could have lived a life of luxury and comfort. She saw a need
for someone to help the poor and the sick and she did
everything in her power to improve the situation and to make a
change. She thought little of her own comfort and she inspired
thousands of young women to become nurses.
弗罗伦斯·南丁格尔（ Florence Nightingale 1820 － 1910
），英国女护士，欧美近代护理学和护士教育创始人之一。
1820 年 5 月 12
日出生于意大利佛罗伦萨。其父是旅意英侨，家庭十分富有，内阁大臣们是她家的常客。南丁格尔本人受过正规的高等教育，可以用英、意、法、德语自如交谈。她自童年开始，即对护理工作深感兴趣，乡间度假时，常常跑去看护生病的村民。在青年时期，她已不满足于贵族生活，决心从事一项值得为之奋斗终身的事业，做一名护士的愿望在她的心目中日趋成熟。她不顾世俗的偏见和父母的反对，毅然投身于当时只有最低层妇女和教会修女才担任的护理工作。无论到哪个国家旅行，她都去访问医院。
1850 年和 1851 年，到德国凯斯韦尔黎医院，与基督教女执事一同学习护理。 1853
年，到巴黎“慈善事业修女会”参观考察护理组织和设施，归国后，担任伦敦患病妇女护理会监督。
1854
年克里米亚战争爆发，《时代》杂志记者威廉·罗莎的战地快讯，揭示了英国伤病员“缺乏最普通的病房简易用具”，震动了英国社会，唤起公众对护理工作的注意。当时的首相西德尼·赫伯特，自然想起邀请他的朋友南丁格尔去做好这件事，这正与南丁格尔的愿望不谋而合。南丁格尔立即率领
38
名护士，奔赴前线斯库塔里医院，参加伤病员的护理工作。当时用品缺乏，水源不足，卫生条件极差。她克服种种困难，改善医院后勤服务和环境卫生，建立医院管理制度，提高护理质量，使伤病员死亡率从
42% ，急剧下降到 2%
。南丁格尔不仅表现出非凡的组织才能，而且对伤病员的关怀爱护感人至深。她协助医生进行手术，减轻病人的痛苦；清洗包扎伤口，护理伤员；替士兵写信，给以慰藉；掩埋不幸的死者，祭祀亡灵……，每天往往工作
20 多个小时。夜幕降临时，她提着一盏小小的油灯，沿着崎岖的小路，在 4
英里之遥的营区里，逐床查看伤病员。士兵们亲切地称她为“提灯女士”、“克里米亚的天使”。伤病员写道：“灯光摇曳着飘过来了，寒夜似乎也充满了温暖……我们几百个伤员躺在那，当她来临时，我们挣扎着亲吻她那浮动在墙壁上的修长身影，然后再满足地躺回枕头上。”这就是所谓的“壁影之吻”。因此，“举灯护士”和“护士大学生燃烛戴帽仪式”，也成为南丁格尔纪念邮票和护士专题邮票的常用题材。
南丁格尔在克里米亚的巨大成功和忘我的工作精神，博得各国公众的赞扬。护士工作的重要性为人们所承认，护理工作从此受到社会的重视。
1856
年战争结束后，南丁格尔才抱着病弱的身体，最后离开战地医院回到伦敦。英国公众捐赠巨款，以表彰她的功勋。南丁格尔用此资金作为“南丁格尔基金”，
1860
年在伦敦圣托马斯医院创办了世界上第一所护士学校。后又开创了助产士和济贫院护士的培训工作，推动了西欧各国以及世界各地的护理工作和护士教育的发展。她强调护理工作是一门非宗教性的专业，必须由受过科学训练和品质优秀的护士，负责护理教育和行政管理。她以病弱的身躯充满激情地工作，为培养护理人材，倾注了毕生精力，确立了护理工作的社会地位和近代护理学的科学地位，使护理学科成为现代医学的重要组成部分，护理工作成为受人敬重的职业。现代护理学是社会发展的产物，职业性护士的出现，是现代化进程中专业化不断提高的结果，也是妇女自立运动的重要胜利。职业护士的资格，由护士教育标准限定，并坚持注册和许可证制度。南丁格尔有不少论著，她的名著《护理工作记录》（
1858 年出版）成为当时的畅销书，被翻译成多种文字，是为现代护理学的经典著作。
1867 年，在伦敦滑铁卢广场，建立了克里米亚纪念碑，并为南丁格尔铸造提灯铜像，和西德尼·赫伯特的铜像并列在一起。
1907
年，英国政府授予南丁格尔最高荣誉勋章，这是首次将该勋章授予女性。伟大革命导师马克思在文稿中，也曾两次充满感情色彩地称赞这位既温柔又坚强的女性：“在当地找不到一个男人有足够的毅力去打破这套陈规陋习，能够根据情况的需要，不顾规章地去负责采取行动。只有一个人敢于这样做，那是一个女人，南丁格尔小姐。她确信必须的物品都在仓库里，于是带领几个大胆的人，真的撬开了锁，盗窃了女王陛下的仓库，并且向吓得呆若木鸡的军需官们声称：我终于有了我需要的一切。现在请你们把你们所看到的去告诉英国吧！全部责任由我来负！”
1910 年的一个晚上，南丁格尔这位 90
岁的疲惫老人，在睡梦中安然长逝。为了永远纪念她，国际护士协会和国际红十字会，把她的诞生日定为国际护士节，并决定以南丁格尔的名字命名最高护士名誉奖，即南丁格尔奖。自
1912
年以来，每两年对各国卓有成就的护士颁发南丁格尔奖一次。中国你出卓越贡献的优秀护士有许多获得了南丁格尔奖。南丁格尔使伤病员们心中感到无比温暖的那盏灯，将永远照耀护理事业的道路。
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