Florence Nightingale is regarded as the founder of the modern nursing profession, and today, May 12 is the 196th anniversary of her birth

Florence Nightingale (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Nurses around the world celebrate her birthday by declaring it as International Nurses Day, while people outside the nursing profession spend this day to honor the nurses who are important in their lives

If Florence is still alive today, what do you think she will do? Will she celebrate her birthday? It�s a safe guess that she will be out in the streets protesting on pressing issues that nurses face today such as the increasing salary gap between male and female nurses or job hazards in the work setting. She was a very courageous nurse and she led the first nurse strike when she declined to allow her charges to leave the boat until the working conditions in the hospital were fulfilled according to her established standards.

As a passionate advocate for healthcare and humanity, Florence started a massive crusade for the advancement of public health that saved the lives of millions of people around the world.

In 1867, she returned to Great Britain as a national hero. From then on, she started and spent the rest of her profession writing manuals, books and curriculum for nursing schools. She also played interesting and important roles in nursing theories, diet, sanitation and psychological care of patients. Like most prolific individuals in history, Florence was very much ahead of her time considering her as a predecessor of holistic care.