Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What It Is Not

Neither in my own nursing education at the B.S.N. nor at the M.S.N. level, was it even suggested, much less required, that I read any of Florence Nightingale's original writings. Even as a nurse educator for over 30 years, I did not require my students to read her writings either. After reading this book, I now believe it is a void in the education of a nurse not to read at least some of the writings of the founder of modern day nursing. Notes on Nursing would be an excellent choice. This book introduces holistic health, home health, alternative therapies, health prevention and maintenance, the role of women in nursing and in everyday life, nursing administration, leadership, communications skills, mind/body and body/mind relationships. Her theory on the use of light, fresh air, warmth, cleanliness, quiet, and the proper selection and administration of diet is also well explored. - Anita S. Kessler, R.N., M.S.N., M.Ed.

Florence Nightingale was an English nurse, reformer, statistician, and writer whose work transformed the practice and public understanding of nursing. Born in 1820 into a wealthy British family, she rejected the conventional expectations placed on women of her class and pursued a life of service, study, and practical reform. Her work during the Crimean War made her internationally famous, but her lasting importance rests not merely on her wartime service, but on the disciplined system of observation, sanitation, hospital management, and patient care that she helped bring into modern nursing.Nightingale believed that nursing required intelligence, discipline, moral seriousness, and close attention to the patient's environment. In Notes on Nursing, first published in 1859, she set out practical principles concerning ventilation, cleanliness, light, noise, food, bedding, patient observation, and the responsibilities of those entrusted with the care of the sick. The book was not intended as a complete nursing manual, but as a set of "hints for thought" for women and caregivers responsible for health in the home and in institutions.Her influence extended far beyond the sickroom. Nightingale helped establish nursing as a trained profession, founded the Nightingale Training School for Nurses at St. Thomas' Hospital in London, and used statistical evidence to argue for better hospitals, military medical reform, public sanitation, and more humane systems of care. She is widely regarded as a founder of modern professional nursing, and her writings remain important to the history of medicine, nursing education, public health, and women's reform.

Anita S. Kessler, R.N., M.S.N., M.Ed., was a nurse, educator, and longtime professor whose career was devoted to preparing future generations of nurses. She earned master's degrees in both Nursing and Education, combining clinical knowledge with a deep commitment to teaching, mentorship, and professional development.Kessler taught nursing at Radford University and Virginia Western Community College, where she helped educate and guide nursing students for more than thirty years. Her experience in both nursing practice and nursing education gave her a strong appreciation for the continuing importance of Florence Nightingale's work, especially its emphasis on observation, cleanliness, patient care, and the disciplined habits required of those entrusted with the sick.