Florece Nightingale: A Historical Nursing Leader

Florence Nightingale-A Historical Nursing Leader
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Florence Nightingale made a significant impact on health reform in hygiene, sanitation and hospital design. In as much as she is best known as the founder of modern nursing for having developed a curriculum and training school for nursing, she is also acclaimed for pioneering health reforms. It was based on her vision of a public health care system that included nursing, health promotion and disease prevention. She marshaled statistical arguments to support her claims that proper hygiene practices have a positive impact on patients’ survival rate (Lee, Clark, & Thompson, 2013). Nightingale’s advocacy shed light on the role of the environment in relation to illness. Her belief that the environment has a significant impact on illness is similar to my personal concept of nursing.
Florence Nightingale advocated for the necessity of appropriate environment. She partnered with other reformers such as Farr and Chadwick in the campaign for improvements in public health. Her outstanding leadership envisioned extending nursing to meet the growing needs of healthcare outside the hospital (Selanders & Patrick, 2012).She advocated for hygiene and stated that there were five essential factors that led to optimal health namely pure air, pure water, efficient drainage, cleanliness and light. These factors remain relevant to contemporary global health. For instance, proper ventilation is essential in the prevention of a wide array of respiratory diseases such as the multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. Poor air quality and pollution contribute to about 14.3 percent of deaths all over the world (World Health Organization, 2012).
She also advocated for access to pure and safe drinking water which remains an issue in many countries resulting to waterborne diseases. Challenges related to drainage systems such as inefficient sewer systems in some areas contribute to disease. Estimates show that more than one billion people practice open defecation in the world. Her concern about cleanliness is still relevant in today’s effort to counter hospital acquired infections. Nightingale emphasized on cleaning hospitals as a sure way to curb such infections. Road accidents as a result of poor lighting and household fires due to kerosene lamps are prevalent. Research shows that kerosene lamps caused three hundred and twenty-two deaths in 2002 (Peck, Kruger, Merwe, Godakumbura, & Ahuja, 2008)
Nightingale’s leadership influenced changes in healthcare and the healthcare system. Her advocacy led to innovat...