DOZ Leadership Lessons
LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM
THE LIFE OF FLORENCE
NIGHTINGALE
1.
Eturuvie Erebor
O
n the 12th of May 1820,
Florence Nightingale was born
into a wealthy, upper-class,
well-connected British family.
Although she was born with the
proverbial silver spoon, she had
no intention of going through
life as a pampered society woman; she wanted
to help the poor and the oppressed. There are
speculations that she may have inherited this
character from her maternal grandfather, William
Smith, a member of the House of Commons who
made his mark as an abolitionist and advocate
for the poor. At the young age of seventeen,
Florence Nightingale believed God was calling
her to serve Him. She decided to dedicate her
life to healthcare and became the founder of
modern nursing. She was also a statistician. It
is important to note that at the time she chose
nursing as a career, it was viewed as menial work
and carried out only by women in the lower
strata of society. It was a job below the social
status into which Florence Nightingale had been
born. Nurses were not respectable unless they
were nuns who worked at the hospitals owned
by churches. This did not dissuade Florence.
She began her career by caring for sick family
members and neighbours and assisting women
with childbirth. She was substantially ful�illed
every time she nursed another back to health.
When she declared her intention to study nursing
and healthcare at a hospital, her family was
both shocked and worried, not only about her
safety but also about the shame she would bring
DOZ Magazine | June 2019
FLORENCE
NIGHTINGALE
to the family. She persisted and was eventually
allowed to attend the Institution of Deaconesses
located in Kaiserswerth, Germany, a school with
a solid reputation, although the family decided
it was to be kept a secret. She exchanged a life
of luxury for the simple life of a nursing student
even as she pursued her dream of becoming a
quali�ied nurse. After this period, she became a
superintendent at a hospital for poor women in
London. While working at this hospital, her father,
who had begun to accept her decision provided
her with a generous allowance which allowed her
to decline a salary enabling the hospital to use it
for the patients. She was hardworking, dedicated,
and had an eye for detail, and it wasn’t long
before she made a mark, especially in hospital
administration. She was very active during the
1954 Cholera outbreak in England working in the
slums and public hospitals, and later she would
serve in the Crimean War. Her love for and master
of hospital administration meant she would set
up a programme for potential nurses. She trained
nurses during the Crimean War in addition to
caring for wounded soldiers. It was during this
period that she became prominent as she changed
the reputation of the nursing career and became
an icon of Victorian culture. The soldiers loved
her and called her their queen, and the Crimean
War veterans for many years at regimental
reunions sang a song composed for her. She
established a nursing school at St. Thomas
Hospital in London and thus laid the foundation
of professional nursing and professionalised
nursing for women.
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2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
her parents would �ind it hard to reject.
Great women �ind a way to get what they
want. If a door fails to open, look for a
window and get in there!
7. Great women persist. They do not give
up. If you give up at the �irst negative
response you receive, you may never have
your dream. You must endure until you
get what you want. Florence Nightingale
persisted, she did not give up the �irst time
she was turned down by her parents, and
eventually, she got what she wanted.
8. Great women pour their lives into their
dreams. Dreams are not achieved by
wishing. If wishes were horses, beggars
would ride. Whatever you desire, you must
be willing to give your all to it. Only those
who pour themselves into their assignment
can make a mark. Florence Nightingale
made a mark because she poured all of
herself into her assignment. It consumed
her. She gave it her all, and she received
all the honour and recognition anyone has
ever received from the nursing profession.
You can’t think of nursing or mention
nursing without the name Florence
Nightingale coming to mind. No one makes
a mark doing things half-heartedly. Give it
your all.
9. Great women do not seek wealth or fame.
However, as they stay on their assignment
and strive to serve humanity as best
as they can, wealth, honour, and fame
seek them. Florence Nightingale became
wealthy, honourable, and famous not
because of her parents and who they were
but because of her assignment and the life
of service she embraced.
10. Great women are an inspiration to other
women. Their story gives hope and sends
across a simple but powerful message,
one that says, if I can so can you. Even in
death, Florence Nightingale continues to
inspire many women within and without
the nursing profession with her story of
determination.
Great women are bold and courageous.
It takes great boldness and courage to
pursue one’s dreams, and primarily
when that dream includes caring for
wounded soldiers at the battlefront. Please
understand that every time Florence
Nightingale went to the battlefront to treat
wounded soldiers, she was putting her
very life at risk. It takes courage to attain
this.
Great women discover their place, and they
stay there. Florence Nightingale knew her
place was nursing, and she stayed there
until she made her mark. Everyone has a
place, and no one makes a mark outside
their place. Where is your place?
Great women embrace who they are.
Nursing was part of who Florence
Nightingale was, and she embraced it.
Other women would have shied away from
it, especially as it was not popular at the
time. But she knew it was who she was,
and she dared to embrace it and declare it.
Great women are not afraid to pursue
their dreams. Florence Nightingale was
not scared to pursue her dream. She was
not afraid to declare it to her family, she
was not frightened of their disapproval or
rejection, she was not terri�ied to leave her
luxurious home, and she was not scared
to go to the battlefront to care for the
wounded. Great women are not afraid to
pursue their dreams.
Great women are not dissuaded by what
others think. Her family did not want her
to pursue nursing, they feared she would
bring disgrace to the family, but she was
not put off or deterred, but what they
thought of her and her career choice. If
people can talk you out of your dream,
then you don’t want it badly enough, and
you won’t attain it.
Great women �ind a way to get what they
want. When she initially voiced her desire,
it was turned down, but she looked for a
reputable nursing school that she knew
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DOZ Magazine | June 2019