Celebrating the Lady
with the Lamp

Much has been written about the “lady with the lamp” and her role in defining nursing care; helping to make the baby-steps from “slop-pails and poultices” and laying the foundations for the highly skilled and diverse profession we recognise today. Her notes on nursing and hospitals – at the time, revolutionary – are still packed with relevant advice for today, such as “airing the sick person’s room”. You can listen to a spine-tingling, but sadly very scratchy, recording of her voice here.

Nursing care on the frontline and the extraordinary work – too often at personal risk – being carried out at present makes me think that Florence Nightingale would have been very proud of the nursing profession she joined so long ago. The annual ceremony to acknowledge her work and contribution to healthcare may be on ice for a while, but there can be no doubt that Nurse Nightingale’s legacy lives on.