Florence Nightingale: Extending Nursing: Collected Works of Florence Nightingale, Volume 13

Hospitals in Southern England

be taken out again. Three children, youngest 21 ⁄2 years died, boy had tracheotomy, girl abscesses. Hospitals in Southern England Royal Hampshire Hospital, Winchester Editor: Nightingale had obvious family ties to Winchester, a town not far from the Nightingale home, Embley, in Hampshire. In one of her first great struggles post-Crimea, she worked mightily to get the Winchester authorities to build a new hospital, rather than merely renovate the old. Its high death rate, due to sanitary defects, amounted to murder , she thought. The material on that project is in Hospital Reform. The sparser material on nursing in this volume is of interest for showing the great problems of introducing trained nursing at provincial hospitals at this early date, only a year after the Nightingale School had opened at St Thomas’. Sarah Freeman (c1833-?), who took five months’s training in 1867-68 (when she was forty-four), became matron at the hospital in 1868. Rebecca Strong (on whom see p 379 below) and others went to Winchester, but they were recalled the following year. Years later, in 1879, when the new hospital was finally built, Mrs Wardroper advised Nightingale that she had received particulars from Winchester regarding it.214 A matron and six women were sent from St Thomas’. Source: From a letter to Robert Rawlinson,215 Boston University 1/2/23 15 February 1861 As to nursing, to which you alluded in re Winchester Infirmary, I have had recently returns from all the provincial hospitals. And even I was amazed at the ignorance and penuriousness which called that nursing which consisted of employing women so ill-paid that they could not have been fit to be maids of all work, without any system of upper and under nurse—all equal among themselves, under a matron who was almost always the steward and never had any knowledge of nursing. 214 Letter 20 January 1879, Add Mss 47733 f35. 215 Robert Rawlinson (1810-98), later Sir, civil engineer, collaborator since Crimean days. Extending Nightingale Nursing in Hospitals / 195 Source: From a letter to Henry Bonham Carter, Add Mss 47716 ff30-31 30 November 1868 I think hitherto that we have done exactly what was right and dignified , viz., set Mrs Wardroper right with the Leeds’ committee and left it there. If they choose to tell Miss Dinsdale216 and her three secret informers that we consider their statements unjustifiable and incorrect , I, for one, should be very glad. But I think we should take no notice, unless (which is possible) you are hereafter asked by some institution for a ‘‘confidential’’ character and we, I presume, always give such—of Miss Freeman, of Winchester or either of her accomplices. In that case I should most undoubtedly say what you know, viz., that she is capable of this sort of secret calumny. For it is very bad indeed. And we should not be justified in not informing any future employers of it. My reason for saying nothing now would be a mischievous woman would not be deterred from doing more mischief (by secret slander) by being told she was found out. She would only do it next time more secretly and perhaps do more mischief. I think Mrs Wardroper deserves, as you say, the highest credit, for having taken no notice. Your letter just received about Oxford. Bath Hospital Editor: Bath Hospital was one of the first to engage St Thomas’-trained nurses and promptly advertised the fact, to Nightingale’s consternation . A printed form of the Bath United Hospital, dated 1 August 1861, states: The system of nursing at this institution has lately been considerably improved, and the committee have engaged the services of two experienced ‘‘Nightingale’’ nurses as superintendents, having under their charge twelve nurses and four assistant nurses. Nightingale was worried about the quality of the two new nurses, Stone and Medhurst, who had been rated ‘‘second class’’ in the ranking system then in place. They had had no working experience after their year’s training, and were not qualified to be ‘‘superintendents’’ or to train nurses. Nightingale was concerned that the training school would be discredited as a result, as is indicated in the first letter below. She quickly realized that they had to tighten up their system. 216 Maria Dinsdale (c1838-?) began training in 1868. 196 / Florence Nightingale: Extending Nursing Source: From a letter to Joshua Jebb, Gannatt Healthcare Group, copy, British Library rp 4766...