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Why We Need You
Do
you ever wonder if what we do really makes a difference?
The answer is a resounding Yes! History
shares countless stories of what one person can do.
What One Person Can
Do
Florence
Nightingale was the daughter of wealthy British parents.
Her childhood was spent on the family estates in England
where she was taught social graces, languages, history,
and philosophy. At the age of 16, Florence felt impressed
that she had a special mission in life. As she had always
enjoyed helping the young and the sick, Florence felt
her life's mission would have something to do with caring
for others.
Slowly,
as Florence came to realize what her life's work should
be, she spent much of her time studying health and reforms
for the poor and suffering. This was unheard-of behavior
for a wealthy girl. The nursing profession was regarded
as filthy, low class work. Hospitals were places of
disease and despair where patients went to die, not
to regain their health. Nevertheless Florence was determined
and entered a Protestant school for training nurses
in Germany and later studied in Paris . At age 33 she
became superintendent of a women's hospital in London
.
In
1854, Great Britain and France went to war with Russia
. The troops were sent to the Crimea to battle without
enough supplies, to die under terrible conditions. The
secretary of war asked Florence Nightingale to take
charge of nursing. She sailed for Crimea with 38 nurses
to face a job that seemed impossible.
As
Florence and her nurses stepped onto the muddy shore,
a band of wounded soldiers had just arrived from a battle
where about 250 cavalrymen had been killed or wounded
in jut 20 minutes. The hospital was rat-infested, dirty,
and poorly furnished. Many of the wounded lay on floors,
bleeding and uncared-for. There were not enough beds,
bandages, or sanitation supplies. Florence faced the
insurmountable task before her with determination. She
found a few men well enough to help and put then to
work cleaning up. She set up a nursing schedule for
care, kitchen work, and diets. At night her lamp burned
as she walked the 4 miles of corridors or wrote countless
report and letters demanding supplies from British officials.
At
first, doctors and official resented Florence and regarded
her as a dictator, for she stood for no delays or slipshod
ways. But soon her effectiveness was impossible to deny.
Nightingale's success became so widely known that she
was given charge of all the army hospitals in the Crimea
.
By
the end of the war she had saved many lives and had
brought about worldwide reforms in hospital administration
and nursing. Ministers, heads of government, authors,
reformers, and politicians came to ask her advice. Florence
Nightingale became a world authority on the care of
the sick.
Each
of us have something profound and unique to give!
You can make a difference.
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