Hospitals are seen as environments of healing and improving overall health; however, before the nineteenth century, it was the exact opposite. Having to seek medical attention at a hospital was death sentence due to the lack of sanitation, overcrowded conditions, and lack of light and ventilation. Factors such as the location of the hospital strongly influenced overall survival rates, heavily populated areas such as, London were believed to have higher death rates compared to a hospital in a rural area. Moreover, Florence Nightingale played a significant role in revolutionizing the hospital setting and care.
There were several significant changes in how hospitals operated in the mid nineteenth century as compared to earlier periods. Before the nineteenth century, hospitals were not necessarily used to take care of sick; they were actually used to house people with leprosy and as a refuge for the poor. It was during the Age of Enlightenment when there was a distinction between treating …show more content…
She set training programs for nurses and had trained thirty eight women who accompanied her to help treat soldiers in the Crimean War. “[She] set an example of compassion, commitment to patient care and diligent and thoughtful hospital administration” (Wikipedia). Furthermore, Florence Nightingale improved sanitation at hospital which yielded positive results. The conditions in which she first encountered the hospitals were excruciating.
“The hospital sat on top of a large cesspool, which contaminated the water and the hospital building itself. Patients lay on their own excrement on stretchers strewn throughout the hallways. Rodents and bugs scurried past them. The most basic supplies, such as bandages and soap, grew increasingly scarce as the number of ill and wounded steadily increased. Even water needed to be rationed” (history,