فلورانس نایتینگل
Florence Nightingale
It could be said that Florence Nightingale was responsible for inventing modern nursing. Indeed, Nightingale did open up the professions to women generally. Her example and influence during the mid to late nineteenth Century were an important factor in opening doors to women. Nightingale’s own life reflects many of these changes. She was born in 1820, and was one of two daughters of a wealthy English family. Her mother was a beautiful society lady who had once turned down a favoured suitor because he was not wealthy enough.
She wanted both her daughters to be socially popular and to marry rich and important men. Florence’s father ensured that she had a good education. But she was frustrated because girls and women were always under parental supervision. She felt called to a life of action, but her family insisted that she divide her time between being with her family and attending social functions. She was not allowed to do anything on her own. When she was 16, Nightingale said that God spoke to her and called her to do His work. But Florence didn’t know what work she was being called to do. Years passed away while she sat with her mother and sister, or attended dances and concerts or travelled to Europe. Nightingale became more angry and rebellious.
She offended her family and friends by refusing to marry several prominent men who wanted to marry her. By the time she was 24, she had decided to be a nurse. But how did one become a nurse? At that time, the profession didn’t seem promising. The only respectable nurses were those women in religious orders that ministered to the patient’s spiritual health, but were not trained in medicine. The majority of nurses were poor, untrained women who were suspected of being too fond of men or alcohol, or both. In fact, one hospital preferred to hire unwed mothers as nurses because they had no reputations to lose.
Nightingale’s family was horrified by her plans. Their opposition delayed her plans but could not stop them. In 1850 she visited a hospital in Germany for the first time. In 1853, she was appointed superintendent of a women’s nursing home in London. But, Florence was still waiting for her true calling. In 1855, the Times of London was printing reports from the Crimean War. France and England were fighting Russia in the Crimean Peninsula. After one allied victory, the wounded French soldiers were well taken care of, but the wounded English soldiers were left to die. Back in England there was a public outcry.
It was Florence’s opportunity. She was soon on her way to Istanbul, Turkey, with 38 nurses. Scutari, Turkey, was the hospital where the British wounded were brought. This so-called hospital was a death pit, where 42 out of every 100 men died. The army was unwilling to listen to Miss Nightingale or to let her tend the wounded. She had to wait until conditions became so bad that the regular medical officers were overwhelmed. As soon as the army turned to her, she immediately went to work. She had the entire hospital cleaned, a new kitchen set up, and a good water supply obtained.
The death rate dropped to 22 out of every 1,000. Nightingale became famous overnight. Although her efforts in the Crimean War injured her health, she continued her work back in London. She published a 1,000-page report on medical conditions in the British Army, several books on nursing and her own proposals and suggestions. She also set up a training school for nurses. Long before her death in 1910, she had seen nursing become a well-established profession. Almost single-handedly she had helped to bring about proper treatment of the sick and injured.
example
someone whose behaviour is very good and should be copied by others, or this type of behaviour
example to
Her courage is an example to us all.
Parents should set an example for their children.
I suggest you follow Rosie’s example (=copy her behaviour) and start doing regular exercise.
The team captain leads by example .
She’s a shining example (=a very good example) of what a mother should be.
—
beautiful society
—
frustrated
1
feeling annoyed, upset, and impatient, because you cannot control or change a situation, or achieve something
He gets frustrated when people don’t understand what he’s trying to say.
frustrated with/at
She had become increasingly frustrated with her life.
sexually frustrated (=feeling dissatisfied because you do not have any opportunity to have sex)
2
a frustrated artist/actor/poet etc
someone who wants to develop a particular skill but has not been able to do this
____________________________________
be/feel called to do something
to feel strongly that you should do something
He felt called to write to all his fellow investors, warning them of the impending crisis.
he felt the call to become a preacher
—
call
—
rebellious
disobedient and hard to control; tending to rebel: rebellious teenagers/behavior
—
offend
to make someone angry or upset by doing or saying something that they think is rude, unkind etc
His remarks deeply offended many Scottish people.
be offended by/at something
Liddy was offended by such a personal question.
The careful language is designed not to offend.
—
promising
showing signs of being successful or good in the future
a promising career in law
a promising young actor
a promising start
—
minister
minister to somebody/something phrasal verb
to give help to someone who needs it, especially someone who is sick or old
She spent much time ministering to the sick.
ministering to the needs of other people
—
spiritual 1
relating to your spirit rather than to your body or mind
Painting helps fill a spiritual need for beauty. spiritual values
2
somebody’s spiritual home
a place where you feel you belong because you share the ideas and attitudes of that society
—
majority
most of the people or things in a group
ￚopposite minority
majority of
The majority of students find it quite hard to live on the amount of money they get.
great/vast/overwhelming majority of something (=almost all of a group)
In the vast majority of cases the disease is fatal.
be in the majority
(=form the largest group) In this city, Muslims are in the majority.
____________________________________
be fond of somebody
to like someone very much, especially when you have known them for a long time and almost feel love for them
Joe’s quite fond of her, isn’t he? Over the years we’ve grown very fond of each other.
—
wed
to marry – used especially in literature or newspapers
____________________________________
reputation
the opinion that people have about someone or something because of what has happened in the past
reputation for
Judge Kelso has a reputation for being strict but fair.
reputation as
In her last job she acquired a reputation as a troublemaker.
earn/gain/establish a reputation as something His approach had won him a reputation as a tough manager. a good/bad reputation a hotel with a good reputation for its foodThe service at Heron Lodge failed to live up to its reputation (=be as good or bad as people say it is) .
to damage someone’s reputation
a bad reputation
This restaurant has a good/bad reputation. | It has gained/acquired a reputation for good/bad food. | He has the reputation of being a tough manager. | If people find out what you’re doing it will ruin your reputation. | It can be hard to live up to one’s reputation. (=to behave in the way people have come to expect)
Look at these examples:
—
horrify
to make someone feel very shocked and upset or afraid
Henry was horrified by what had happened.
horrified to see/hear/find etc
She was horrified to discover that he loved Rose.
—
opposition
strong disagreement with, or protest against, something such as a plan, law, or system
opposition to
There was a great deal of opposition to the war.
opposition from
They face opposition from local residents as well as from environmentalists.
He is confident in his ability to overcome all opposition with his personal charm.
The proposals have aroused the opposition of teachers.
Strong opposition resulted in rejection of the bill.
Plans to turn the site into a £600 million leisure complex have met with stiff opposition .
Much public opposition to the new law remained.
Workers found themselves in opposition to local interests.
Look at these examples:
_____________________________
appoint to choose someone for a position or a job
officials appointed by the government
appoint somebody to something
He’s been appointed to the State Supreme Court.
appoint somebody to do something
A committee was appointed to consider the plans.
appoint (somebody) as something
O’Connell was appointed as chairman.
___________________________
superintendent
someone who is officially in charge of a place, job, activity etc
a young park superintendent
the superintendent of the Methodist Church in Hawaii
—
allied
—
outcry
an angry protest by a lot of ordinary people
The closure of the local hospital has caused a huge public outcry .
outcry against/about/over
a national outcry about the lack of gun control laws
outcry from
The proposed changes caused an angry outcry from residents.
the outcry against cruel treatment of prisoners
—
death pit
—
overwhelm
—
single-handeddone by one person; working alone; without help from others: a single-handed voyage across the Atlantic | He rebuilt his house single-handed.
Mehri is single-handed and needs help
single-handedly (adv)if one person does something single-handedly, they do it without help from anyone else
She brought up three children single-handedly.
We didn’t make
single-handedly
—
