On 12th May 1820 Florence Nightingale was born in Florence, Italy. The day is now celebrated worldwide as International Nurses Day.

She enrolled at the Institution of Protestant Deaconesses at Kaiserswerth in Germany for two weeks of training in July 1850 and again for three months in July 1851. There she learned basic nursing skills, the importance of patient observation, and the value of good hospital organization.

Florence Nightingale was an extraordinary woman who modernised the nursing profession after seeing for herself what was happening to the care of soldiers during the 19th century Crimean War (1853 – 1856).

She spent many hours in the wards, and her night rounds giving personal care to the wounded established her image as the “Lady with the Lamp.” Her efforts to formalize nursing education led her to establish the first scientifically based nursing school—the Nightingale School of Nursing, at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London (opened 1860). She also was instrumental in setting up training for midwives and nurses in workhouse infirmaries. She was the first woman awarded the Order of Merit (1907). International Nurses Day, observed annually on May 12, commemorates her birth and celebrates the important role of nurses in health care. Britannica