Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton: Modern Nursing

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Recommended: Professional, legal and ethical responsibilities of a nurse

Nursing as a profession dates back for at least several centuries. Those first truly recognized as nurses were wet nurses, or those who cared for the child when the mother was unable to. However, as with most modern jobs, nursing has progressed with the passage of time. Throughout history, there were many influential nurses, such as Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross. Moreover, one nurse known to many to have contributed greatly to the field of nursing is Florence Nightingale.
Nightingale and others helped create the modern rights and responsibilities for the nursing field, and the healthcare field in general. Rights and responsibilities are the things that are set out to ensure activities are completed in a safe manner. Without Nightingale, or Clara Barton, the rights and responsibilities of nurses would likely be different and the practice of medicine would potentially do more harm than good.
Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820 in the Villa La Columbaia in Florence, Italy. Her father was a Whig, a Unitarian, and an abolitionist . He played a major part in Nightingale’s education, teaching her several foreign languages, such as Greek and German, and also teaching her math, history, and philosophy.
Nightingale’s mother was a very different compared to her father. Fanny Nightingale was determined to get her daughter to marry. However, Nightingale disliked this prospect, and by the age of 25 she had already refused several suitors. Instead she became very interested in looking after the ill, and it was at this time she decided to become a nurse. Her parents disagreed with her decision, as nursing was seen as something of working class women, and therefore below her.
Nightingale made numerous attempts to bec...

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...nce Nightingale and the Crimean War.” Understanding Uncertainty. Submitted July 10, 2008. Accessed February 4, 2013. http://understandinguncertainty.org /node/204.
“Founder Clara Barton.” American Red Cross. Accessed February 3, 2014. http://www.redcross.org/about-us/history/clara-barton.
Simkin, John. “Florence Nightingale.” Spartacus Educational. Accessed February 3, 2014. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/REnightingale.htm.
“They Heard the Call of Duty: Civil War Nurses.” Army Heritage Center Foundation. Accessed February 3, 2014. http://armyheritage.org/education-and-programs/educational-resources/education-materials-index/50-information/soldier-stories/291-civilwarnurses.
“Women Nurses in the Civil War.” The United States Army Heritage & Education Center. Accessed February 3, 2014. http://www.carlisle.army.mil/AHEC/AHM/civilwarimagery /Civil_War_Nurses.cfm.

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