ABSTRACT
Florence Nightingale (1820—1910) was asked by the government to take a contingent of thirty-eight nurses to the Crimea when reports of the deplorable hospital conditions there became widely known. Although there has been argument concerning the degree to which she was responsible, mortality rates did fall sharply at Scutari during Nightingale’s tenure at the hospital. She is most noted for making nursing a respectable profession for women, but was also an avid campaigner, writing prodigiously to promote scientifically based medical and social reforms.
