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What's the podcast It's. 
All going to be all right in the

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end. 
You've got some worries, my 

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dearly. 
Rest your busy minds, because 

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it's finally time the Stories 
from Now and Then. 

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Hello, everybody, and welcome 
back to Stories From Now and 

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Then. 
My name is Captain Blunderface, 

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and I'm here in the old library 
again with Debra Caddis. 

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Yes. 
And it's a really beautiful day 

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outside. 
It just smells fresh here by 

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these tall windows, which 
actually really blends well with

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the old book smell, too. 
Yes, we could go outside 

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together, Debra Caddis. 
But what if you run away? 

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We should have a cat leash. 
Yes, a lot of cats say they'll 

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always come back, sometimes the 
next day, but I would need 

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assurances that you 100% would 
come back. 

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OK. 
I want to believe you, 

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Deprecatis. 
But before we make a call on 

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that, we have a shout out. 
So today's episode is dedicated 

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to Adriel from Arecibo, Puerto 
Rico, who loves to listen to our

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stories before bedtime. 
Thanks so much for listening. 

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Adriel. 
This episode is for you. 

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Oh, and it looks like we just 
got a message from our sponsor. 

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Today's episode of the show is 
brought to you by the official 

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Stories from Now and Then 
Coloring book Companion. 

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You can color along with the 
stories as you listen to them. 

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To pick up your copy, head over 
to storiesfromnowandthen.com or 

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check out our Instagram profile.
And with that, we're thrilled to

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pass the mic to Nicola for 
today's wonderful true story. 

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Take it away. 
OK, just before we start I've 

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got a little pre story to the 
main story. 

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This is also true. 
When I was about 12 years old 

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there was a speech contest at my
school and we had to decide what

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our topic would be. 
We could choose anything we 

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wanted to talk about in our 
speech. 

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And I remember my dad was 
telling me you have to do your 

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speech on Florence Nightingale. 
It would be amazing. 

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And I said, Dad, I don't want to
do a speech on Florence 

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Nightingale. 
I don't know who that is. 

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And nobody listening will know 
who it is either. 

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So I did my speech on something 
different. 

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But now looking back, I think 
more speeches should be made 

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about this lady. 
She was once known as the Lady 

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of the Lamp. 
This is the tale of Florence 

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Nightingale. 
Hey, that kind of rhymes. 

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Once Upon a time, on the 12th of
May in 1820, in the beautiful 

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city of Florence in Italy, a 
baby girl was born to a wealthy 

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English family who were 
travelling abroad. 

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Her parents named her Florence 
after the city where she was 

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born, and her older sister was 
named Parthenopi after the Greek

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name for Naples where she had 
been born. 

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The Nightingale family was very 
rich. 

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They owned 2 grand estates in 
England, one for summer and one 

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for winter, with servants to 
cook and clean, gardens to 

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stroll in, and all the luxuries 
A wealthy family could want. 

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So young Florence grew up in 
this world of comfort and 

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privilege. 
She learned to speak French, 

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German and Italian. 
She studied music, drawing and 

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mathematics. 
She read books from her father's

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extensive library. 
She was clever and curious and 

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thoughtful. 
But here's what Florence was 

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expected to do with all that 
education. 

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Nothing much at all. 
In the 1800s, wealthy young 

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ladies were supposed to get 
married and host dinner parties,

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do needlework and look pretty. 
They certainly weren't supposed 

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to do any serious work. 
Florence's mother and sister 

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loved shopping for dresses, 
attending balls, gossiping with 

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friends and planning social 
events. 

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But Florence felt differently. 
She felt restless, like a bird 

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in a beautiful cage, comfortable
but trapped. 

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I must do something useful with 
my life, Florence thought. 

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But what? 
Florence began visiting sick 

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people in the villages near her 
family's estates. 

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She brought them food and 
medicine. 

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She talked with them, comforted 
them, helped them feel less 

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alone. 
I want to be a nurse, Florence 

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announced to her family when she
was in her 20s. 

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Her mother was horrified. 
Her sister was shocked. 

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Nursing, nursing, dear 
listeners, you must understand, 

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in those days, nursing was not 
considered a respectable 

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profession. 
Hospitals were dirty, crowded, 

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terrible places where poor 
people went to die. 

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They didn't really know how to 
care for patients properly. 

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Florence, you cannot be serious,
her mother said. 

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What will people think? 
You must marry a nice gentleman 

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and settle down. 
But Florence was serious, very 

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serious. 
She didn't want to host tea 

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parties for the rest of her 
life. 

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She wanted to care for sick 
people, to make hospitals 

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better, to do something 
meaningful. 

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Florence's family tried to 
change her mind. 

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For years. 
Florence argued and insisted and

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refused to give up her dream. 
Finally, when Florence was 30 

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years old, her father gave her 
permission and an allowance of 

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money to pursue nursing 
training. 

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Florence travelled to Germany to
study. 

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She learned about hygiene, about
patient care, about how 

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hospitals should be organised. 
She took notes on everything, 

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observing, learning, preparing 
herself. 

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In 1853, Florence became the 
Superintendent of a small 

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hospital for sick women in 
London. 

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She was 33 years old And 
finally, finally, doing what she

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felt called to do. 
Florence reorganized the 

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hospital completely. 
She made it clean. 

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She improved the food. 
She trained the nurses. 

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She installed a system of bells 
so patients could call for help.

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She made the hospital efficient,
caring and professional. 

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People began to notice this 
remarkable woman who was 

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changing how hospitals worked. 
Then, in 1854, something 

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happened that would make 
Florence famous around the 

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world. 
Britain went to war in a place 

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called Crimea in what is now 
Ukraine, fighting alongside 

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France and Turkey against 
Russia. 

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British soldiers were dying not 
just from wounds in battle, but 

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from infections, diseases and 
terrible conditions in the 

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military hospitals. 
A newspaper reporter named 

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William Russell wrote shocking 
articles about how badly wounded

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soldiers were being treated. 
The hospitals were filthy, 

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disorganized and deadly. 
More soldiers were dying from 

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disease in hospitals than from 
injuries in battle. 

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The British people were 
outraged. 

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Something had to be done. 
At the British government's 

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request, in October 1854, 
Florence sailed to Scutari with 

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38 nurses she had trained. 
When they arrived at the 

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hospital, Florence was horrified
by what she found. 

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The hospital was 
catastrophically bad. 

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There were no clean bandages. 
The beds were crawling with lice

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and fleas. 
The floors were covered in 

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filth. 
There was no proper ventilation,

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so the air was awful. 
Rats scurried everywhere. 

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The water supply was 
contaminated. 

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Wounded soldiers lay on the 
floor waiting days for 

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treatment. 
The army doctors didn't want 

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Florence's help at first. 
They were proud men who didn't 

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think a woman could tell them 
what to do. 

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But Florence was diplomatic and 
clever. 

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She and her nurses quietly 
started cleaning, organizing, 

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and caring for the patients. 
When supplies ran out, Florence 

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used her own money to buy 
whatever was needed. 

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Shirts, soap, towels, food, 
medicine. 

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Slowly, the doctors began to see
that Florence knew what she was 

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doing. 
Slowly, they began to listen to 

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her suggestions. 
Florence worked tirelessly. 

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She reorganized everything. 
The kitchens, the laundry, the 

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supplies, the schedules. 
She made sure patients had clean

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water, healthy food, and fresh 
bedding. 

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She improved ventilation so the 
air could circulate. 

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Most famously, Florence walked 
through the hospital wards every

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night carrying a lamp to check 
on the patients. 

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Soldiers would see her lamp 
glowing in the darkness and feel

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comforted knowing someone cared 
about them. 

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They began calling her the Lady 
with the lamp. 

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Florence would stop at each bed,
speaking kindly to wounded 

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soldiers, adjusting their 
pillows, writing letters home 

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for those who couldn't write 
themselves, holding their hands 

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when they felt sad. 
The soldiers loved her, and 

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Florence's reforms worked. 
She saved thousands of lives by 

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giving that hospital and other 
military hospitals a big 

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makeover. 
Florence returned to England in 

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1856 as a national hero. 
Queen Victoria herself wanted to

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meet this remarkable woman, but 
Florence used her fame and 

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influence to change medicine 
permanently. 

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She was brilliant with numbers, 
and so she wrote reports filled 

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with statistics and charts 
proving that cleanliness, proper

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ventilation, nutritious food and
good organization saves lives. 

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She established the first 
professional nursing school, the

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Nightingale Training School, at 
Saint Thomas's Hospital in 

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London. 
This school trained nurses 

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properly, teaching them hygiene,
patient care, medical knowledge 

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and professional behaviour. 
And those nurses spread around 

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the world. 
Taking Florence's ideas about 

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proper nursing and hospital care
to every continent. 

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They transformed nursing into a 
respected, skilled profession. 

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Florence also wrote books about 
nursing, about hospital design, 

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about public health. 
Her book, Notes on Nursing, 

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became a standard text that 
nurses studied for generations. 

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But here's something surprising.
After returning from Crimea, 

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Florence rarely left her home. 
She was often sick, sometimes 

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bedridden, yet she continued 
working from her bedroom, and 

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Florence lived to be 90 years 
old. 

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She had spent her long life 
revolutionizing healthcare, 

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establishing professional 
nursing, and saving countless 

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lives through her insistence on 
cleanliness, proper care, and 

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treating patients with dignity. 
Today, nurses around the world 

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celebrate Florence Nightingale's
birthday on the 12th of May as 

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International Nurses Day. 
The Nightingale Pledge, taken by

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00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:59,960
many new nurses, honors her 
memory. 

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Hospitals and nursing schools 
bear her name. 

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Every nurse who washes their 
hands before treating a patient.

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Every hospital built with proper
ventilation, every patient 

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treated with dignity and 
professional care. 

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These are Florence's legacy, 
continuing more than 100 years 

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00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:32,920
later. 
Have you ever been sick and had 

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00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:38,000
someone look after you? 
Maybe a nurse or a doctor, Maybe

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00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:43,280
your mummy or your daddy? 
Think about how that feels, to 

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be cared for like that. 
I think the story of Florence 

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00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:55,160
Nightingale shows us that caring
for others who are sick or hurt 

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or struggling is one of the most
important things that a person 

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00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:04,600
can do. 
Let's all be thankful that there

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are people like that in the 
world, and let's try and be like

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that ourselves. 
Thank you so much Nicola, for 

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00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:19,320
that incredible, true, and 
really inspiring story. 

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And Deprecatus, I'm thinking it 
would be good for you to get 

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00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:29,440
outside, but we should start 
small, though I think we'll stay

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00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:33,520
behind the old library for now, 
and I have this old collar and 

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leash we can use. 
I do trust you, but I just want 

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00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:41,000
to make sure. 
Great, then it's settled. 

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00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:43,240
Some fresh air is going to do us
some good. 

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00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:48,600
Remember, if you're listening 
and you'd like a shout out, feel

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00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:51,600
free to send us a message on 
Instagram and we'd love to hear 

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a little bit about you. 
And we can even dedicate a 

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future episode to you or someone
you love. 

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00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:03,640
Stories from Now and Then is 
narrated by Nicola Ward, music 

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00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:06,360
by Captain Blunderface. 
And please make sure to 

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00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:10,280
subscribe to the show wherever 
you find your podcasts so that 

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00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:15,000
you never miss an episode. 
Thanks again for tuning in, and 

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00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:22,720
we'll see you all next time on 
Stories from Now and Then.