Nurses Day 2017

  HAPPY  INTERNATIONAL  NURSES  DAY  

          'International Nurses Day' is celebrated around the world on the birthday  of FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE.   She was born in Florence, Italy, on May 12, 1820.  Part of a wealthy family,  Nightingale defied the expectations of the time and pursued what she saw as her God-given calling for nursing.  It was said that her behaviour was  exasperating and eccentric and that she had no respect for upperclass British women whom she regarded as inconsequential.  Even in those days,  she had the courage to be vocal about gender inequality.  She said that if she was to choose between being a woman or a galley slave, she would choose the freedom of galleys !  

          During the Crimean War, she and a team of nurses upgraded the sanitary conditions at a British base hospital,  greatly reducing the death rate.  Her writings sparked worldwide health care reform, and in 1860 she established St. Thomas' Hospital and the Nightingale Training School for Nurses. A revered hero of her time, she died on August 13, 1910, in London.  She was called a "Lady with the lamp" as she made night rounds with a lamp to care for the wounded soldiers.  A charming lady with a radiant smile,  she was the founder of MODERN. NURSING.  And Nightingale was a prodigious and versatile writer too.  ... 

--  Dr. T. Rama Prasad, www.rama-scribbles.com