Florence Nightingale Remembered 100 Years On

Nearly 100 years have now passed since the death of Florence Nightingale but her ideals still hold true to this day. Florence Nightingale laid the foundation of professional nursing with the establishment of the first secular nursing school in the world in 1860. Every year her birthday is celebrated on 12 May in Westminster Abbey in London. This year University Hospital of North Staffordshire was represented by Ian Turner and Anne Barks, both are professional heads of nursing.

Anne Barks believes its important nurses celebrate the life of Florence Nightingale. She said: "At this year's service we remembered the nurses on the Nurses Roll of Honour, those who have died on duties in conflict. The foundation set up in Florence Nightingale's name promotes the studying of nursing and excellence in practice. It raises money to provide scholarships for nurses and midwives to study in different places in the world and promotes innovation in practice. The memory of Florence caring for the troops during the Crimean Campaign is something we need to preserve for future generations of nurses."

Ian Turner said he and others were still being inspired by the spirit of Florence Nightingale and her nursing legacy. He said: "The Most Reverend Dr Desmond Tutu spoke of his personal experiences of being hospitalised. He himself later worked with Mother Teresa in Calcutta where he observed such care and compassion given by nurses in extreme circumstances. He emphasised his pleasure in sharing the company of so many from the nursing profession which he held in such a high regard and described us all as ubiquitous and irreplaceable. We all felt we shared a common theme and ethos."

Liz Rix, Chief Nurse at University Hospital, said: "We should all remember May 12 Florence Nightingale's birthday is an opportunity for us to celebrate our profession in unity with all nurses around the world. We are delighted that we were able to fly the flag for nursing and for University Hospital in memory of Florence Nightingale."

A lamp which is normally kept in the Florence Nightingale Chapel is carried through the Abbey escorted by student nurses from the Armed forces and the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing at Kings College, London, signifying her influence on the armed forces and nursing. The lamp was passed in the Knave to other specialist nurses to represent the transmission of knowledge from one nurse to another and highlights the diversity of care given by nurses for the benefit of humanity.