Florence Nightingale Museum

Dedicated to the fascinating story of one of Victorian Britain’s most accomplished nurses, the Florence Nightingale Museum provides the perfect opportunity to learn about the inspirational life and work of Florence Nightingale and her pioneering contributions to nursing.

Florence Nightingale stands as one of the most influential women in nursing history. Famously coined as the ‘Lady with the Lamp,’ Nightingale is best known for organising the nursing of sick and wounded soldiers during the Crimean war, checking her patients in the dead of night with a dimly lit lamp in hand. With a party of 38 nurses, Florence helped instigate improvements in providing food, supplies, blankets, and beds, as well as improving general living conditions.

In 1860, Nightingale established The Nightingale Training School at St Thomas’ Hospital. It was the first professional training school for nurses and aimed to transform nursing into a respectable profession for women. Nightingale was determined to improve the health and living standards for patients and nurses. She campaigned tirelessly, publishing over 200 books, reports, and pamphlets on hospital planning and organisation that are still widely read today, including her most famous work Nursing: What it is and What it is Not.

Nightingale’s methodologies were revolutionary for her time, and her teachings are still relevant today. She discovered a connection between how infection prevention and a healthy diet can aid recovery and established a unique ward design, known as Nightingale Wards, in response. Nightingale also established a need for specialist midwifery nurses in the hospital and set up a School of Midwifery Nursing at King’s College Hospital, which became the standard model for the rest of the country.

Aptly located within St Thomas’ Hospital, the Florence Nightingale Museum first opened to the public in 1989. Explore the work and life of the ‘mother of nurses,’ from her childhood through to the Crimean war. Learn how this inspirational woman entered into the nursing profession, what lead her to Crimea, and how she revolutionised nursing practices.

The museum houses an extensive collection of Nightingale’s materials, including over 800 of her letters and her rare book collection. Additionally, view articles from the Crimean War, nursing artifacts, and interactive displays of photographs, maps, films, and stories of various historical figures who worked closely with Nightingale.

Learn about Florence’s challenges growing up in Victorian Britain through the museum’s themed talks. From her inspiration as a child and her studies under a scholar farther to later life, marriage, and her nursing legacy, these talks take visitors through critical stages of Nightingale’s life and passions.

Roleplay meets storytime with the Meet Miss Nightingale performance. Hear about the exciting and, at times, dangerous challenges she faced. How she overcame prejudice to pursue a life as a nurse. Her involvement in the Crimean War. And her lifelong support of the British army, which lead her to earn the support of Queen Victoria.

Florence Nightingale was instrumental in lessening the fatalities in the Crimean War, but she wasn’t the only famous nurse to provide aid. Mary Seacole’s upbringing also greatly influenced her life and career. Born in Jamaica to a Scottish father who served in the British army, and a Jamaican mother who was a highly skilled doctor, it seems almost natural that Seacole pursued a career in medicine and found her way to Crimea, to aid the soldiers.

This interactive performance details her fascinating life, curing diseases and even entertaining soldiers at her famous British hotel.