My heroine, by Kevin Miller
Florence Nightingale
My heroine is Florence Nightingale. Mrs Nightingale was a British nurse, statistician and social reformer. She lived from 1820 to 1910, and she became famous for helping soldiers wounded in the Crimean War (1853-56), a war between Russia and an alliance of Britain, France, and the Ottoman Empire -based in what later became Turkey.
Hospitals back then were terrible: many people died from infections they got in the hospital because the doctors and nurses didn't wash their hands. There were no anaesthetics, so when they had to cut off somebody's leg they had to do so without. There were no disinfectants, either -nobody knew where infection came from. The hospitals were dirty. There could be 100 sick people in each room. They ate bad food, and the nurses didn't change their bandages. The reason is, they didn't know it was necessary. 
Nightingale came to Scutari, on the Crimean Peninsula, in 1854, and she started to change things. She used statistics to show people that hygiene was very important. After a while people listened to her, and she saved many lives.
After the war, Nightingale opened schools for nurses, and she helped poor people. And she wrote the first-ever book about nursing.
My heroine is Florence Nightingale. Mrs Nightingale was a British nurse, statistician and social reformer. She lived from 1820 to 1910, and she became famous for helping soldiers wounded in the Crimean War (1853-56), a war between Russia and an alliance of Britain, France, and the Ottoman Empire -based in what later became Turkey. Hospitals back then were terrible: many people died from infections they got in the hospital because the doctors and nurses didn't wash their hands. There were no anaesthetics, so when they had to cut off somebody's leg they had to do so without. There were no disinfectants, either -nobody knew where infection came from. The hospitals were dirty. There could be 100 sick people in each room. They ate bad food, and the nurses didn't change their bandages. The reason is, they didn't know it was necessary. Nightingale came to Scutari, on the Crimean Peninsula, in 1854, and she started to change things. She used statistics to show people that hygiene was very important. After a while people listened to her, and she saved many lives.
After the war, Nightingale opened schools for nurses, and she helped poor people. And she wrote the first-ever book about nursing.