ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

Anderson, Alison A. 1996. "Florence Nightingale: Constructing a Vocation." Anglican Theological Review. 78, no. 3 (Summer 1996): 404-420. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/

This article looks at Miss Nightingale's career from a theological perspective. The author tries to analyze how her belief in God played a role in Miss Nightingale's life and how she was inspired to live a chaste life in service of her fellow human beings. It also reflects on Miss Nightingale's disputation of the commonly-held opinion that women are inferior to men, arguing instead that women are just as capable to man in reasoning. This is a unique source because of its focus on Nightingale's spiritual life. The author uses Nightingale's own journals and letters to examine how faith shaped her work. This article would be useful for someone looking to do an in-depth study of Florence Nightingale, or anyone who is interested in spiritual matters. Florence Nightingale is best known for having founded modern nursing and helped improve the care provided by hospitals. She was named after her birthplace, Florence, Italy. Raised in England during the Victorian Age, her father provided her a good education through tutors, especially in classics and mathematics. She went on to seek a career in nursing, despite her family's disapproval. Up to that time nurses had mostly been religious, monastic women or untrained helpers of low repute. Nonetheless, she perceived a calling, and chose to rebel against the traditional woman's role as a wife and mother.

Her early career began with extensive training and eventually her contributions during the Crimean War (1854-56). Florence trained in Egypt, Germany and France, before serving in a home for "gentlewomen" suffering from illness in London. During this time, she began to hear of the horrific conditions the wounded were living in during the Crimean War. She and ...