International Nurses Day 2023: Every May 12, on the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth, International Nurse Day is observed all around the globe. The International Council of Nurses (ICN) marks this significant day each year by creating and disseminating materials, also the event is to express gratitude towards the selfless service of nurses.
About Florence Nightingale
The creator of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, sometimes known as "The Lady With the Lamp," was a British nurse, social reformer, and statistician. Her beliefs regarding hygiene were formed by her experiences working as a nurse during the Crimean War. During the Crimean War, Nightingale organised treatment for injured soldiers at Constantinople and gained notoriety as a nurse manager and educator. By raising living standards and enhancing hygiene, she drastically decreased death rates. Her social initiatives included raising the acceptable levels of female participation in labour, promoting greater food assistance in India, fighting to remove severe prostitution laws, and enhancing healthcare for all facets of British society.
10 Interesting Facts about Florence Nightingale Museum
1. The Museum is situated at the south end of Westminster Bridge, on the grounds of St Thomas Hospital, close to both Waterloo and Westminster stations. The museum celebrates the life and work of Florence Nightingale who was the best-known figure in nursing history.
2. Basically the museum is divided into three areas and each is devoted to a phase of Florence Nightingale's life, work and legacy - before, during and after the Crimean War.
3. The museum is a collection of almost 3000 artefacts that relates to the life, work and legacy of Florence Nightingale.
International Nurses Day 2023: Current Theme, History and Significance
4. The museum includes some wonderful personal items of Florence Nightingale like a medicine chest, the gold watch that her father gave her and her much-loved pet owl named Athena. It is said that she rescued an owl from some Greek boys at the Parthenon in Athens.
5. The museum also consists of Florence Nightingale's famous lamp which was actually a Turkish lantern due to which she earned the nickname “The Lady with the Lamp”.
6. The museum also consists of the iconic black dress and a nurse uniform from Florence Nightingale's training school.
7. Amazing is that in the museum we can hear Florence Nightingale's voice recorded on a phonograph; a high, slow voice that we can listen to in the museum.
8. In the museum, there is a small section devoted to the nurse named Edith Cavell. She was sentenced to death for helping Allied soldiers escape German territory.
9. In the museum, there is a strong emphasis on educational features mainly for youngsters, video clips and photographs. It also provides new digital experiences that help visitors delve deeper into topics that interest them.
10. The Florence Nightingale Museum Trust is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 9 December 1987 and registered as a charity on 22 December 1982.
Therefore we can say that the Florence Nightingale Museum depicts the life of an amazing woman, a nurse. You can discover her childhood days, how she fought against her parent’s wishes to become a nurse and her work during the Crimean War. Also, you can see the methods that she campaigned for ordinary people with better health care. Museum has a unique collection, interactive displays and art installations. It also enhances knowledge.