Florence Nightingale's Notes on Nursing

Florence Nightingale arrived in Scutari near Constantinople (now called Istanbul) with about three dozen trained nurses during the Crimean War (1853-56). She was shocked to find that British soliders were seven times more likely to die from contagious diseases such as cholera and typhoid than from their war wounds. After tirelessly working for change in battlefield "hospitals", Nightingale returned to England. She took up the cause of sanitation in hospitals and worked to change the very nature of nursing. First published in 1859, Notes on Nursing is written in a clear and sensible voice. It is comprised of all of her nursing experiences. She listed the chief elements of nursing as proper ventilation and warmth, improved health conditions in homes and hospitals, healthful and appropriate foods, clean beds and bedding, plentiful light, clean rooms and walls, personal hygiene, appropriate conversations and astute observations. A must read for anyone contemplating nursing as a career.