Page 32 - New Medley 5 Semester 2
P. 32

Tara went to the bookshelf and pulled out a  biography of Florence

               Nightingale. Minal sat down on a chair and began to read, ‘Florence
               Nightingale was born on 12 May 1820 in Florence, Italy in a rich,

               upper-class British family. She was named after the city of her birth.
               From a very young age, she was involved in looking after the ill and

               poor people in the village, close to her father’s  estate.

               ‘When Nightingale was about 16 years old, she decided to take up

               nursing and spoke to her family about it. Her parents were completely
               against it. They wanted her to get married. Moreover, nursing was not

               considered a respectable job, especially for a woman, in those days.
               But she refused to get married. She was against the expected role for a

               woman of her nature to become a wife and mother.

               ‘Nightingale believed that God wanted her to work for the sick and

               the  deprived. She went to Germany for a three-month nurse-training
               (nursing) course.

               After finishing the course, Nightingale took up a nursing job
               in London. Later, within a year, she was promoted to be the

               superintendent of the hospital.

               ‘In October 1853, the Crimean War broke

               out. The British Empire was at war with                             biography  an  account  of  someone’s
               the Russian Empire. Many soldiers died                              life  written  by  someone  else
               or were injured. Nightingale gathered 38                            estate  a  large  area  of  land  in  the
                                                                                   country  which  is  owned  by  a  person,
               nurses and went to Crimea. When they                                family  or  organisation

               arrived at the British hospital, they were                          deprived  underprivileged
               shocked to see the unhygienic conditions                            unhygienic  unclean  and  likely  to
               there. Many soldiers were dying because                             cause  disease
                                                                                   infectious  (of  a  disease)  able  to  be
               of infectious diseases like  typhoid and                            passed  from  one  person,  animal  or

               cholera, apart from injuries. She got                               plant  to  another
               down to work. All the nurses worked                                 typhoid  a  highly  infectious  disease
               together and cleaned up the place. They                             caused  by  a  bacteria,  transmitted
                                                                                   mainly  by  contaminated  food  or
               took good care of the sick and injured                              water,  characterised  by  high  fever

               soldiers. Florence Nightingale spent long                           cholera  an  acute  infectious  disease,
               hours taking care of the patients.                                  characterised  by  diarrhoea  and
                                                                                   vomiting


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