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Florence Nightingale Introduction & Books
 
Only rarely does such a human being come along whose impact changes the world in her lifetime, and continues to have sustaining power long after her death. Florence Nightingale "belongs to the Ages." Her life is linked with the mystics, visionaries and healers throughout history: the recognized medieval mystics – St. Catherine of Siena, St. Catherine of Genoa, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Francis of Assisi – and the modern 20th-century mystics – Gandhi and Mother Teresa. Barbara was instrumental in helping place Florence Nightingale's name before the Episcopal Church, in consideration for placement on the church's official calendar. Barbara wrote three of the five documents to accompany the 1997 Resolution Proposal, which passed when voted on in July, 2000, at the 73rd General Episcopal Church Convention. Formal Episcopal church services to honor Florence Nightingale will begin in August 2001, around her death date of August 13. In her epic Crimean war mission (1854-1856) of leading and directing women nurses in the army hospital at Scutari, Turkey, Florence Nightingale burst into world consciousness as a spiritual beacon for all who suffered. Her historic breakthrough achievement - pioneering the modern administrative role of nurse superintendent with measurable outcomes supported by irrefutable data - in the face of incredible adversity was merely the cornerstone of her life work. During her 20 months at Scutari, Nightingale spearheaded the Herculean effort by a small group of reformers to save a 27,000-man army in the field from destruction by filth, exposure, and disease alone, reducing the mortality rate from 42% to a little over 2% in six months. Her enormous work output in these months -- the 20-hour days of physical labor, the continuous official correspondence and letter writing in the cold and wet, the three trips across the Black Sea to the Crimea and the harsh weather of the steppe, all the while keeping her focus of mind and maintaining discipline in her fledgling nurse corps -- alone would earn her a place in the annals of human leadership and endurance. |