Florence Nightingale and the need to use your brain

Whilst Florence wrote the above in 1852, many in lockdown Britain have felt the same through 2020 and into 2021. Our rationale, however, may be significantly different. 
 
Rightly known for her pioneering approach to nursing, she also wrote passionately about what she saw as a waste of the talent and energies of half the population – women. 
 
Florence, certainly made a big difference to nursing. While she is still portrayed with her lamp tending patients, her impact was the professionalization of nursing, giving it the standing it still enjoys in the UK today. 
 
She railed against incompetence and negligence which resulted in poor sanitation and living conditions. She introduced proper hospital management, administration, stringent training and best practice. 

Determination to contribute more 

 
But her journey to make that difference was hard. She had to call in her aunt to persuade her mother of her need to learn maths as a child. She also got up early in the mornings to read medical journals before her family were awake to notice as they would prefer her to read light stories or listen to the gentlemen speak. She once wrote that, ‘the worst part of the day is when the breakfast bell rings’. 
 
Whilst it may not be the breakfast bell that calls us away from our interests today, many of us will recognise the need to sneak away to find some space for ourselves – to get away from the job list that awaits us.

Battling boredom

However, with furlough and the call to stay at home, these challenges have changed for many. For some, there is nothing but time, and for others even less as children have been ‘remote learning’ and requiring supervision, making the concept of stealing time for self-improvement seem even harder to reach. 
 
For those of us who have found ourselves with much more time, but few opportunities, Florence would have had much sympathy. She wrote of the effect of boredom on her life, and for women generally in her era, “I see so many of my kind who have gone mad for want of something to do”. 
 
In her papers, Florence draws a clear picture of her life:

Whilst we might be jealous of her ability to take time for music and the simple ability to pay eight visits, given our current social distancing limitations, it is tangible how frustrated Florence feels in not being able to contribute more to society. 
 
Now a commonly known fact – learning is good for your physical and mental health – Florence already wrote of the medical effects of boredom on her, reflecting on “Why am I starving, desperate, diseased on it’. 
 

Present-day advice

So, what would Florence prescribe us in 2021? Perhaps, with the ability to make choices about the way we use our time that was not available to her in the 19th century, she would encourage us to use the time to better ourselves, make a difference to the people around us, to be productive. For those with less time, but a desire to improve themselves, she might continue to recommend waking up earlier. For all of us, no doubt, she’d be telling us to wash our hands. 

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