Location: 2 Lambeth Palace Road London SE1 7EW
Contact: +44 (0)20 7188 4400, info@florence-nightingale.co.uk
Access: admission charge, see website
Website address: http://www.florence-nightingale.co.uk/
Three pavilions present the real story of Florence Nightingale, the world of the Victorians and her impact on nursing today. The Gilded Cage tells of her privileged childhood and her struggle against stifling social conventions. The Calling is dramatic and moving, explaining how Nightingale and her team coped with the crisis in the military hospitals where the legend of the lady with the lamp was born. Reform and Inspire shows the other side of Florence, the reformer who campaigned tirelessly for health reform at home and abroad. Place your stethoscope on the Audio Hotspots to hear the voices of Florence and her contemporaries as well as her critics. The cast of characters includes the Jamaican-born nurse Mary Seacole, famed for her herbal remedies and, the Jamie Oliver of his day, Alexis Soyer who transformed the soldiers’ diet.
Collection highlights include: The writing slate Florence used as a child; her pet owl Athena which she rescued in Athens, and became her constant companion; Nightingale’s medicine chest which she took with her to Crimea; and a rare Register of Nurses which lists women who served under Nightingale in the military hospitals in Turkey and Crimea.
The Florence Nightingale Museum is delighted to announce the launch of the Digitising Nightingale site. This fantastic resource makes available online over 1900 of Florence Nightingale’s letters – for free, for everyone. Florence Nightingale’s thoughts on patient care, hospital design, infection control and many other subjects can be read in her own handwriting from the comfort of your own desk.