What's the podcast It's. All going to be all right in the
end. You've got some worries, my
dearly. Rest your busy minds, because
it's finally time the Stories from Now and Then.
Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Stories From Now and
Then. My name is Captain Blunderface,
and I'm here in the old library again with Debra Caddis.
Yes. And it's a really beautiful day
outside. It just smells fresh here by
these tall windows, which actually really blends well with
the old book smell, too. Yes, we could go outside
together, Debra Caddis. But what if you run away?
We should have a cat leash. Yes, a lot of cats say they'll
always come back, sometimes the next day, but I would need
assurances that you 100% would come back.
OK. I want to believe you,
Deprecatis. But before we make a call on
that, we have a shout out. So today's episode is dedicated
to Adriel from Arecibo, Puerto Rico, who loves to listen to our
stories before bedtime. Thanks so much for listening.
Adriel. This episode is for you.
Oh, and it looks like we just got a message from our sponsor.
Today's episode of the show is brought to you by the official
Stories from Now and Then Coloring book Companion.
You can color along with the stories as you listen to them.
To pick up your copy, head over to storiesfromnowandthen.com or
check out our Instagram profile. And with that, we're thrilled to
pass the mic to Nicola for today's wonderful true story.
Take it away. OK, just before we start I've
got a little pre story to the main story.
This is also true. When I was about 12 years old
there was a speech contest at my school and we had to decide what
our topic would be. We could choose anything we
wanted to talk about in our speech.
And I remember my dad was telling me you have to do your
speech on Florence Nightingale. It would be amazing.
And I said, Dad, I don't want to do a speech on Florence
Nightingale. I don't know who that is.
And nobody listening will know who it is either.
So I did my speech on something different.
But now looking back, I think more speeches should be made
about this lady. She was once known as the Lady
of the Lamp. This is the tale of Florence
Nightingale. Hey, that kind of rhymes.
Once Upon a time, on the 12th of May in 1820, in the beautiful
city of Florence in Italy, a baby girl was born to a wealthy
English family who were travelling abroad.
Her parents named her Florence after the city where she was
born, and her older sister was named Parthenopi after the Greek
name for Naples where she had been born.
The Nightingale family was very rich.
They owned 2 grand estates in England, one for summer and one
for winter, with servants to cook and clean, gardens to
stroll in, and all the luxuries A wealthy family could want.
So young Florence grew up in this world of comfort and
privilege. She learned to speak French,
German and Italian. She studied music, drawing and
mathematics. She read books from her father's
extensive library. She was clever and curious and
thoughtful. But here's what Florence was
expected to do with all that education.
Nothing much at all. In the 1800s, wealthy young
ladies were supposed to get married and host dinner parties,
do needlework and look pretty. They certainly weren't supposed
to do any serious work. Florence's mother and sister
loved shopping for dresses, attending balls, gossiping with
friends and planning social events.
But Florence felt differently. She felt restless, like a bird
in a beautiful cage, comfortable but trapped.
I must do something useful with my life, Florence thought.
But what? Florence began visiting sick
people in the villages near her family's estates.
She brought them food and medicine.
She talked with them, comforted them, helped them feel less
alone. I want to be a nurse, Florence
announced to her family when she was in her 20s.
Her mother was horrified. Her sister was shocked.
Nursing, nursing, dear listeners, you must understand,
in those days, nursing was not considered a respectable
profession. Hospitals were dirty, crowded,
terrible places where poor people went to die.
They didn't really know how to care for patients properly.
Florence, you cannot be serious, her mother said.
What will people think? You must marry a nice gentleman
and settle down. But Florence was serious, very
serious. She didn't want to host tea
parties for the rest of her life.
She wanted to care for sick people, to make hospitals
better, to do something meaningful.
Florence's family tried to change her mind.
For years. Florence argued and insisted and
refused to give up her dream. Finally, when Florence was 30
years old, her father gave her permission and an allowance of
money to pursue nursing training.
Florence travelled to Germany to study.
She learned about hygiene, about patient care, about how
hospitals should be organised. She took notes on everything,
observing, learning, preparing herself.
In 1853, Florence became the Superintendent of a small
hospital for sick women in London.
She was 33 years old And finally, finally, doing what she
felt called to do. Florence reorganized the
hospital completely. She made it clean.
She improved the food. She trained the nurses.
She installed a system of bells so patients could call for help.
She made the hospital efficient, caring and professional.
People began to notice this remarkable woman who was
changing how hospitals worked. Then, in 1854, something
happened that would make Florence famous around the
world. Britain went to war in a place
called Crimea in what is now Ukraine, fighting alongside
France and Turkey against Russia.
British soldiers were dying not just from wounds in battle, but
from infections, diseases and terrible conditions in the
military hospitals. A newspaper reporter named
William Russell wrote shocking articles about how badly wounded
soldiers were being treated. The hospitals were filthy,
disorganized and deadly. More soldiers were dying from
disease in hospitals than from injuries in battle.
The British people were outraged.
Something had to be done. At the British government's
request, in October 1854, Florence sailed to Scutari with
38 nurses she had trained. When they arrived at the
hospital, Florence was horrified by what she found.
The hospital was catastrophically bad.
There were no clean bandages. The beds were crawling with lice
and fleas. The floors were covered in
filth. There was no proper ventilation,
so the air was awful. Rats scurried everywhere.
The water supply was contaminated.
Wounded soldiers lay on the floor waiting days for
treatment. The army doctors didn't want
Florence's help at first. They were proud men who didn't
think a woman could tell them what to do.
But Florence was diplomatic and clever.
She and her nurses quietly started cleaning, organizing,
and caring for the patients. When supplies ran out, Florence
used her own money to buy whatever was needed.
Shirts, soap, towels, food, medicine.
Slowly, the doctors began to see that Florence knew what she was
doing. Slowly, they began to listen to
her suggestions. Florence worked tirelessly.
She reorganized everything. The kitchens, the laundry, the
supplies, the schedules. She made sure patients had clean
water, healthy food, and fresh bedding.
She improved ventilation so the air could circulate.
Most famously, Florence walked through the hospital wards every
night carrying a lamp to check on the patients.
Soldiers would see her lamp glowing in the darkness and feel
comforted knowing someone cared about them.
They began calling her the Lady with the lamp.
Florence would stop at each bed, speaking kindly to wounded
soldiers, adjusting their pillows, writing letters home
for those who couldn't write themselves, holding their hands
when they felt sad. The soldiers loved her, and
Florence's reforms worked. She saved thousands of lives by
giving that hospital and other military hospitals a big
makeover. Florence returned to England in
1856 as a national hero. Queen Victoria herself wanted to
meet this remarkable woman, but Florence used her fame and
influence to change medicine permanently.
She was brilliant with numbers, and so she wrote reports filled
with statistics and charts proving that cleanliness, proper
ventilation, nutritious food and good organization saves lives.
She established the first professional nursing school, the
Nightingale Training School, at Saint Thomas's Hospital in
London. This school trained nurses
properly, teaching them hygiene, patient care, medical knowledge
and professional behaviour. And those nurses spread around
the world. Taking Florence's ideas about
proper nursing and hospital care to every continent.
They transformed nursing into a respected, skilled profession.
Florence also wrote books about nursing, about hospital design,
about public health. Her book, Notes on Nursing,
became a standard text that nurses studied for generations.
But here's something surprising. After returning from Crimea,
Florence rarely left her home. She was often sick, sometimes
bedridden, yet she continued working from her bedroom, and
Florence lived to be 90 years old.
She had spent her long life revolutionizing healthcare,
establishing professional nursing, and saving countless
lives through her insistence on cleanliness, proper care, and
treating patients with dignity. Today, nurses around the world
celebrate Florence Nightingale's birthday on the 12th of May as
International Nurses Day. The Nightingale Pledge, taken by
many new nurses, honors her memory.
Hospitals and nursing schools bear her name.
Every nurse who washes their hands before treating a patient.
Every hospital built with proper ventilation, every patient
treated with dignity and professional care.
These are Florence's legacy, continuing more than 100 years
later. Have you ever been sick and had
someone look after you? Maybe a nurse or a doctor, Maybe
your mummy or your daddy? Think about how that feels, to
be cared for like that. I think the story of Florence
Nightingale shows us that caring for others who are sick or hurt
or struggling is one of the most important things that a person
can do. Let's all be thankful that there
are people like that in the world, and let's try and be like
that ourselves. Thank you so much Nicola, for
that incredible, true, and really inspiring story.
And Deprecatus, I'm thinking it would be good for you to get
outside, but we should start small, though I think we'll stay
behind the old library for now, and I have this old collar and
leash we can use. I do trust you, but I just want
to make sure. Great, then it's settled.
Some fresh air is going to do us some good.
Remember, if you're listening and you'd like a shout out, feel
free to send us a message on Instagram and we'd love to hear
a little bit about you. And we can even dedicate a
future episode to you or someone you love.
Stories from Now and Then is narrated by Nicola Ward, music
by Captain Blunderface. And please make sure to
subscribe to the show wherever you find your podcasts so that
you never miss an episode. Thanks again for tuning in, and
we'll see you all next time on Stories from Now and Then.