The most important profession and one that has consistently been ranked as one of the most trusted practices in the United States is nursing. The foundations of nursing were laid by one of the greatest figures in nursing history, Florence Nightingale. Florence helped shape modern nursing in a variety of ways. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayFlorence is often referred to by her well-deserved nickname, the Mother of Nursing, but has chosen other infamous names over the course of of his life, such as The Lady with the Lamp and The Crimean Angel. Florence was born in 1820 into a wealthy family in Italy. She was born into a wealthy traditional family, but very early in her life she showed that she would not follow the social model of other women in that society. Women were considered intellectually inferior to men and women's education at this time was limited more to lessons in dancing, etiquette, music, manners, painting and embroidery, but her father, William Nightingale, helped stimulate his curious mind by giving him private lessons. ancient and modern languages, history, composition, philosophy and statistics. Florence rejected a proposal from decent, proper men and thus rejected the usual path of wealthy Victorian women which included marriage, children and housework to pursue her true vocation, that of a nurse. Florence was 31 when her father grieved and granted her permission to study in Germany as a student at Fliedner Lutheran Hospital in Kaiserworth. Her parents were against her becoming a nurse because in the Victorian era, nursing was considered a job for the lower classes. Florence refused a marriage proposal from a suitable man named Richard Milnes when she was 17 because although he interested her "romantically and intellectually, her morally active nature craves satisfaction, and that would not find her in this life.” After completing her training, Florence returned to London and took up a position as a nurse in a hospital. She was promoted to supervisor in less than a year thanks to her impressive character and work ethic. Florence was plagued with unsanitary conditions and a cholera epidemic that provided an ideal environment for the rapid spread of disease. Florence took it as her personal mission to greatly improve these conditions and significantly reduce the mortality rate. Following this, Florence was called by Sidney Herbert, Secretary of War, to organize a team of exceptional nurses to care for the fallen and sick soldiers of the Crimean War. Florence quickly rose to the challenge and assembled an exceptional team of over 30 nurses and sailed to Crimea. Once the team arrived, Florence quickly got to work improving the unsanitary conditions and recruited her team along with some of the less injured patients to clean the hospital from top to bottom and personally walked the halls during the night to provide care to patients, earning her nickname "the Lady with the Lamp". Florence created many patient services, such as a patient kitchen, laundry room, classroom, and library. Florence's hard work and innovative thinking did not go unnoticed and she was welcomed home with a brooch engraved with the Queen and government money, which she used to further her,.