Medicine

• In 1848, there were few changes in hospital management in British hospitals. They had a reputation for being dirty and had very basic medical facilities.
• Hospital wards were often unsanitary and diseases spread quickly within them.
• Changes in nursing and hospitals at Scutari

  • The Crimean War broke out in October 1853
  • Newspapers in Britain reported terrible conditions at the hospital in Scutari, where British soldiers were being treated
  • The hospital was dirty, there were few medical supplies and nurses, and the injured soldiers had little access to adequate food and water
  • Many of the injured were dying of infectious diseases or wound infections
• Nightingale and her team's work at Scutari

  1. Thoroughly and continuously cleaning hospital wards and equipment

  2. Giving patients separate beds with space between

  3. Putting patients into different wards by level of illness or injury

  4. Making sure patients were kept clean and their bedding regularly changed

  5. Setting up a kitchen and organising fresh food for patients

  6. Arranging for a clean water supply

  7. Arranging for medical supplies to be sent from Britain

  8. Organising soap so nurses could frequently clean wounds and change dressings
• Impact of Nightingale's work at Scutari

  • Reduced the death rate from over 40% to 2%
  • Her work was widely reported in Britain, giving her influence and publicity
  • Her methods began to be copied and her books were widely read
  • This helped change attitudes so people began to see that changes in hospitals could improve medical care
  • It also began to change the role of women in medicine by showing the positive impact of women working as well-trained, professional nurses
• Miasma


  Nightingale strongly believed that disease was caused by miasmas (bad air)
• After returning to Britain, Nightingale had an impact on how hospitals were run and designed, and helped transform nursing into a profession with proper training.
• Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) was trained as a nurse at the St Thomas' nurse training school in Kaiserwerth Hospital in Germany and the Paris Infirmary.
• In 1853, Nightingale became the superintendent of nursing at King's College Hospital in London.
• Nightingale and her team's work at Scutari

  Helped prevent wound infection and the spread of infectious diseases
• Nightingale and her team's work at Scutari


  Improved medical treatment and reduced the death rate
• How Nightingale and her nurses at Scutari helped change the role of women in medicine

  Showed the positive impact of women working as well-trained, professional nurses
• How the Crimean War had an impact on medicine


  Exposed the poor conditions in hospitals and led to reforms in nursing and hospital management