Florence Nightingale and the professionalization of nursing

Abstract

At a time when an unprecedented sanitary crisis has distinctively shown the key role of the health personnel, the present article intends to analyse the figure of Florence Nightingale as a precursor of the professionalization of nursing and early advocate of female education. We will try to explore the keys to her success in reforming the profession as well as some of the obstacles she faced because of the social restrictions of her time. Similarly, in order to provide a better insight of her transformation into a cultural icon, we will go through some specific examples of her representation in the Victorian novel.