Florence Nightingale, born on May 12, 1820, became a nurse at a time when the profession was considered a degrading occupation and hospitals were cesspools of disease. Nightingale changed that. Her meticulous and tender dedication to healthcare, as seen in her day-to-day work as well as her published writings, including Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What It Is Not and Notes On Hospitals, helped to elevate the nursing profession and change hospital layouts, among other things. That her techniques and best practices seem common to us today only proves the debt owed to "The Lady with the Lamp."
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