Florence Niightingale, the founder of professional nursing, was a humanitarian with an interest in people all ages. Commitment to the comfort and care of the sick and a concern for their environment and overall quality of life was her definition of nursing.
Her nurses went out into the communities of Great Britain and into the almshouses, or poorhouses. Here the poor, chronically ill, mentally afflicted, and dependents old were thrown together and cared for by inmates committed to the same building for minor criminal offenses.
Many Nightingale nurses were leaders in improving conditions at those institutions and organizing other humanitarian groups who helped establish training programs for district nurses. The dependent aged, although few in number, were among the needly who benefited from this nursing service.
Reference :
Farrell J : Nursing Care of the Older Person, J.B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, 1990.
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