A new light on Nightingale, the lady with the lamp

An exhibition to mark the bicentenary of the birth of the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, has opened at St Thomas' Hospital in London, home of the Nightingale Museum.

Nightingale in 200 Objects, People and Places, which opened on International Women's Day, is part of a year-long festival of events to pay tribute to the healthcare pioneer, and will be enhanced by an online digital offering and a pop-up exhibit that will tour hospitals nationwide.

Born into a wealthy family, almost single-handedly Nightingale created the modern nursing profession, through her work at British military hospitals during the Crimean War (1853-56). After returning home, she spent the rest of her life codifying nursing rules and campaigning on healthcare issues.

In 1912 the International Committee of the Red Cross instituted the Florence Nightingale Medal as the world's highest nursing honor, and one of last year's recipients was Li Hong, vice-president of Fujian Provincial Hospital, who was honored for her work in disasters and in public health and nursing education.

"Wherever I go in the world, people know who Florence Nightingale is and hold her in high esteem－not just nurses; everyone knows something about her," said David Green, director of the museum.

"Her name is such a benchmark of quality, she has had a global impact, but it's no surprise because one thing that binds us together is that we will all at some point need a nurse and a midwife."

The exhibition contains an array of memorabilia, including the sash she designed to be worn at the Scutari hospital as the first nursing uniform, personal correspondence, her medicine chest, an audio recording of her voice, and the lamp she carried on her rounds, a Turkish lantern called a fanoos, rather than the commonly depicted glass lamp.

The exhibition coinciding with the worldwide novel coronavirus outbreak not only adds to the usefulness of the digital offering, but underlines the importance of its message.

"When Nightingale turned up at the military hospital it was disease-ridden but she got people wearing clean uniforms and washing hands, which made a difference, and when she got back she crunched the data, which is now such an important part of modern life," Green said.

"Evidence-based nursing, data and hygiene: all started with her, and they're key to how we'll solve the current crisis. A lot of it comes back to Nightingale herself."

The exhibition is on until next March.