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Iron-fisted
lamp lady
As
it Happened: Florence Nightingale Iron Maiden. Screening
at 7.30pm on Saturday, December 28, on SBS TV.
Reviewer: Ben Caddaye
The
name Florence Nightingale has, for me, always conjured up
images of a sweet, delicate, caring woman who nursed soldiers
back to health with a soft touch.
Wrong!
Florence Nightingale, perhaps the worlds most famous
nurse, was a tough, strong-minded woman who ruled her hospital
ward with an iron fist, according to this excellent SBS documentary.
Nightingale
spent two years in a Turkish hospital tending to British victims
of the bloody Crimean War.
Known
as the Lady of the Lamp, she was credited with
introducing new standards of hygiene and cleanliness into
military hospitals and earned the undying respect of British
soldiers.
That
said, more soldiers died under the care of Nightingale than
in other hospital ward during the Crimean War.
Of
course, her two-year stint as a military hospital nurse was
just one of many fascinating chapters in the life of Florence
Nightingale, and this documentary examines other facets of
this 19th century Iron Maiden.
Florence
Nightingale Iron Maiden is worthwhile viewing
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