Florence Nightingale's Life

The early life of Florence Nightingale demonstrates her passion and commitment to helping other through the field of nursing. Born into a wealthy, upper-class British family in Florence, Nightingale's parents named her after the city where she was born (Florence, 2008). Her father was William Edward Nightingale and her mother was Frances, also called "Fanny" (Florence, 2008). Nightingale's parents were adamant she follow the typical course of a woman of her station; that is they hoped she would become a wife and mother. However, in 1837 Nightingale has was inspired by what she considered a "Christian divine calling," and from that point on she committed herself to nursing and caring for others, especially the poor (Florence, 2008, p. 1).

In the 1840s, Nightingale devoted her life to helping care for the poor and indigent, something she achieved by becoming "the leading advocate for improved medical care in the infirmaries" devoted to the care of the poor (Florence, 2008, p. 1). At the time Nightingale rebelled against her parents and chose to become a nurse, nursing was not the respected profession or science it is considered today. Instead, as one historian writes, "Nursing was a career with a poor reputation, filled mostly by poor women, hangers-on who followed the armies" (Florence, 2008, p. 1). Many nurses aiding the armies were as likely to be employed as cooks as care-givers. Though pursued by the politician and poet Richard Mon

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