Florence Nightingale and the Nursing Legacy

Book excerpt: This is a study based on research into the records of the Nightingale Fund and how it was used to finance various experiments in nursing and midwifery training in the nineteenth century, which has been revised and expanded for the second edition. It traces the development of nurse training and discusses the problems that beset a fledgling profession. The new demands of scientific medicine, the emancipation of women and the growth of women's education all played their part in building the foundations of modern nursing. This book, written by Monica Baly, a leading nursing historian, will be a valuable resource to those interested in placing nursing as we know it today in the context of its colourful history.