Public Lecture - Florence Nightingale and the Crimean War

Public Lecture by Dr Virginia Furner

“Two figures emerged from the Crimea as heroic – the soldier and the nurse.”

                                                                                           Cecil Woodham Smith

The Crimean War (October 1853-February1856) was a pivotal event in military history. But who remembers who fought it, what it was all about, why it was relatively brief, who ultimately won and what are the legacies of the war that are still relevant more than 150 years later?

The legacy of Florence Nightingale OM RRC DStJ for modern nursing is outstanding and continues to the present day. Her participation in the Crimean War was instrumental in enabling her to establish the principles of modern health care and nursing, and social reform.