Florence Nightingale and Public Health - Essay Example

Florence Nightingale and Public Health 2007 Outline: A) Florence Nightingale, life and contributions. B) Major accomplishments of the 19th century in the area of public health C) Significance of 19th century achievements for the development of public health Florence Nightingale made a great contribution to modern nursing and knowledge of public health. She was a daughter of English gentry born in Florence, Italy, on May 12, 1820 owing her name to the city of birth. Her parents, William Edward and Frances Nightingale, were from well-to-do families: father was heir to a Derbyshire estate and mother came from ‘solid merchant stock.’ As a daughter of wealthy parents Florence could live brilliant social life and could make her destiny in prospective marriage but she chose another way – independent and resolute. In 1837, Nightingale is driven by her calling and despite the protest of her parents engages in nursing. The profession of a nurse was not appropriate for a woman of her status and background. Nevertheless in 1844 Nightingale decides to work in hospital and during this time she does private nursing. She also manages to get to Kaiserworth, a German school and hospital after her visit of it on Europe tour. She takes three months nursing training what allows her to become superintendent of the London charity-supported Institution for Sick Gentlewomen in Distressed Circumstances in 1853. (Florence Nightingale, 2005) When the Crimean War started, Florence is asked to organize a team of nurses for service in Turkish military hospitals. She along with 38 other nurses arrived in Scutari in November 1854. Conditions at hospitals were horrifying and grew worse as the number of patients increased. This picture clearly showed how insufficient the British army medical service was. The epidemiological situation in the Barrack Hospital where nurses worked was terrifying. The same was the attitude to the soldiers who were not supposed to live in comfort. Nightingale tried to change the situation and her efforts were crowned with success. She made military doctors accept her and other nurses, she improved supply system using private money and she made the death rate among patients fall by two-thirds.(Florence Nightingale, 2005) When Florence Nightingale left Scutari in 1856 she became an icon for soldiers and public and returning from the Crimean War she became a national heroine. However, these are not the only achievements of this woman. She turned the whole system of war medicine. Her efforts to create a new system resulted in the reconstruction of the administrative structure of the War Office. After 1858 she consulted on military and civilian sanitation in India advocating irrigation as the solution to famine. The next great achievement was making nursing a respectable profession for women. In 1859 she assisted in establishing the first Visiting Nurse Association and in 1860 she also founded the Nightingale Training School for nurses at St Thomas Hospital for money raised by Nightingale Fund. In 1860 she published Notes on Nursing laying down the principles of nursing. Nightingale contributed also to hospital planning and organization. She was an advocate of pavilion plan for hospitals. She highlighted the need of change in poorly designed buildings, and water and sanitation systems. (Ferguson, 2004) Due to her suggestions that poorly ventilated places are venues of infection brought improvements in hygiene issues. Nightingale also raises the questions of confidentiality and ethical behaviour, promotes teamwork in nursing. (Ferguson, 2004) In 1858 Nightingale becomes the first female to get membership in the British Statistical Society. She was also the first women to receive the British Order of Merit and in 1907 she was listed as a pioneer of the Red Cross Movement.  Despite the strong character after 1861 Nightingale was bedridden. However, it did not hamper her to improve health standards. She published books and reports, consulted officials. She died on Aug. 13, 1910 at the age of ninety. During her life she initiated many health care reforms which changed the face of the current nursing practice and her writings are a source of information for medical staff till nowadays. The nineteenth century in public health is marked by horrifying living conditions of working classes. Much health problems were caused by the lack of simply hygiene norms. There was not adequate system of sewage and other waste disposal as well as water supply system. 1797- Edward Jenner introduces new practice of getting immunity to smallpox - inoculation with cowpox. In the beginning of 19th century the practice of vaccination spread rapidly reaching almost all European countries. 1816 - R. T. H. Laennec invents the stethoscope to help in fighting with tuberculosis. This new invention allowed to study chest diseases more extensively. Stethoscope turned out to be very valuable instrument for physical diagnosis. The work of Holmes (1809-94) and Semmelweis (1818-65) helped to cease incredible high infant mortality rate. They proved that an infection of the uterus as a main cause of infant death was carried by doctors and midwives and simple hygiene recommendation could drop significantly death rates. 1838 – Edwin Chadwick, a fighter for improvement of sanitary conditions, initiated creation of a Central Board of Health after the Public Health Act of 1848. It made local authorities take care of street cleaning, the provision of drains and sewers, regulation of housing and eventually laid the foundations for the administrative mechanism of public health. 1848 - "The Year of Revolutions" initiated basic human rights and a wave of socio-economic changes throughout Europe. After the year of revolutions, many countries introduced legislation regarding public health. 1860s- 70s - Pasteur and Koch produced the bacteriological revolution by their discoveries of infectious disease origins. Their work served the basis for germ theory which explained the causes of disease as the entry of micro-organisms in the human body. However, these discoveries owe to the work of Joseph Lister who perfected the objective lens system of the microscope. Inoculation from smallpox contributed to the spread of vaccination practice and further developments in this field. That meant that epidemic diseases could be prevented massively. The significance of this discovery cannot be overestimated for public health development. The invention of the stethoscope contributed to better diagnosis of chest diseases and pulmonary infections (pneumonia or tuberculosis) which were frequently blamed for high mortality rates among population. Holmes and Semmelweis contributed to the drop of infant mortality rates which were incredibly high during 19th century: it was 80 to 100 deaths per thousand babies when raised in good conditions and 300 deaths per thousand for poor families. (Public Health and Technology) Holmes and Semmelweis researched the causes of infant deaths and contributed to the rise of gynecology. As during 19th century living conditions of poor people were the root of health problems and wide spread of diseases, the work done by Edwin Chadwick deserves much praise. Highlighting importance of sanitary norms and promoting the idea to the state level contributed greatly to the improvement of living conditions of working class and correspondingly to health care improvements. The Year of Revolutions contributed the same to the improvement of public health promotion on higher authority level. Germ theory initiated vaccination from different contagious diseases. For public health germ theory meant ‘a change of focus from environmental to individual solutions.’ (Berridge, and Loughlin, 2003) References Berridge V and Loughlin K Public health history. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Vol. 57. 2003 pp.164-165 Ferguson, M. Florence Nightingale - Ahead of Her Time. SRNA Newsbulletin. (Apr.\May 2004) Florence Nightingale. UXL Newsmakers. 2005 Franco-Paredes, C., L. Lammoglia, and J. I. Santos-Preciado. "The Spanish royal philanthropic expedition to bring smallpox vaccination to the New World and Asia in the 19th century.." Clin Infect Dis 41 (November 2005): 1285-1289. Nightingale F. Florence Nightingale: An Introduction to Her Life and Family. Waterloo, Ont: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. 2001. Public Health and Technology during the 19th Century http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/projects/bluetelephone/html/health.html retr. 1 Nov. 2007 Southgate, T. Public Health in the 19th Century. Historical Pamphlets Series: No. http://www.rosenoire.org/articles/hist22.php retr. 1 Nov. 2007 Read More