Lynn McDonald

Florence Nightingale: passionate statistician.

Nightingale’s passionate commitment to statistics was based on her faith in a god of order, who created a world that ran by law. God’s laws could be known through research, as a result of which suitable interventions to better the world could be applied. Statistics were a vital component in her holistic approach to health care as a system. They served both to indicate serious problems and to assist in policy making, and then again to monitor the effects of the new policies. She pioneered the use of evaluative statistics and saw reforms achieved as a result of her advocacy. This article explores three key aspects selected from Nightingale’s more than 40 years of applied statistical work: her adaptation of Quetelet’s methodological foundations, the use of statistics in monitoring public health care systems, and her pioneering study of maternal mortality in childbirth.

Florence Nightingale a Hundred Years on: who she was and what she was not

This article reviews Florence Nightingale’s work 100 years after her death, based on surviving writing compiled for The Collected Works of Florence Nightingale. Described are her founding of a new profession for women, based on patient care, her pioneering work in statistics and data analysis and her bold reform of the workhouse infirmaries. A section on historiography focuses on the negative impact of F. B. Smith’s attack on Nightingale in 1982 and Monica Baly’s progressively more negative interpretations from the 1970s to her death in 1998. Note is made of future research opportunities

Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole on nursing and health care

Aims The purpose of this article is to correct inaccurate information about both Mary Seacole and Florence Nightingale, material that promotes Seacole as a pioneer nurse and heroine, while either ignoring Nightingale or trivializing her contribution. Background Nursing journals have been prominent in promoting inaccurate accounts of the contribution of Seacole to nursing. Some have intermittently published positive material about Nightingale, but none has published redress. Design Discussion paper. Data Primary sources from 1855–2012 were found, which contradict some key claims made about Seacole. Further sources – not included here – are identified, with a website reference. Implications for Nursing It is argued that Nightingale remains relevant as a model for nurses, with the many crises in patient care and continuing challenges of hospital safety. Conclusion Greater accuracy and honesty are required in reporting about nursing heroes. Without these, great ideas and examples can be lost to nursing and health care.AIMS The purpose of this article is to correct inaccurate information about both Mary Seacole and Florence Nightingale, material that promotes Seacole as a pioneer nurse and heroine, while either ignoring Nightingale or trivializing her contribution. BACKGROUND Nursing journals have been prominent in promoting inaccurate accounts of the contribution of Seacole to nursing. Some have intermittently published positive material about Nightingale, but none has published redress. DESIGN Discussion paper. DATA Primary sources from 1855-2012 were found, which contradict some key claims made about Seacole. Further sources - not included here - are identified, with a website reference. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING It is argued that Nightingale remains relevant as a model for nurses, with the many crises in patient care and continuing challenges of hospital safety. CONCLUSION Greater accuracy and honesty are required in reporting about nursing heroes. Without these, great ideas and examples can be lost to nursing and health care.

Mary Seacole and claims of evidence-based practice and global influence.

The aim of this paper was to explore the contribution of Mary Seacole to nursing and health care, notably in comparison with that of Florence Nightingale.

Florence Nightingale: A Research-Based Approach to Health, Healthcare and Hospital Safety

Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) is known for her work in the Crimean War (1854–1856), the founding of professional nursing after it and her pioneering work in statistics, but less for her social research approach to health, healthcare and hospital safety, or her contribution to sociological theory more generally.