弗洛伦斯·南丁格尔，因在克里米亚进行护理而闻名，被誉为“提灯女神”。她是世界上第一个真正的女护士，开创了护理事业，1908年3月16日，她在88岁高龄时被授予伦敦城自由奖。“5.12"国际护士节设立在南丁格尔的生日这一天，就是为了纪念这位近代护理事业的创始人。
她一直照顾着穷人。在1844年12月，一个穷人在伦敦的一所工厂医院死去，引起了公众对该医院的责备，这时，南丁格尔成了促进医院改善医疗环境的倡导者。南丁格尔生于一个名门富有之家，家境优裕，她的父亲威廉·爱德华是一个博学、有文化教养的人，是一名统计师。母亲芬妮·史密斯，也出身于英国望族，不但家道富裕，更是世代行善，名重乡里。南丁格尔的父亲毕业于剑桥大学，谙熟数学，精通英、法、德、意四门语言，除古典文学外，还精于自然科学、历史和哲学，擅长音乐与绘画。南丁格尔自幼便在家庭里接受教育。她母亲对她很不满意，因为她无意于婚姻。她在当主妇、文学家、护士三者之中游移不定，最后不顾父母反对，毅然选择了当护士。她的父亲每年给她500英镑(现在约为100,000人民币元),让她能在工作之余，过着舒适的生活。
南丁格尔年轻时，过著十分优越的上流社会生活，随时有人服侍，活在舞会、沙龙，以及与贵族们的周旋之中。虽然表面看来是令人称羡之生活，但南丁格尔内心却一直感到十分空虚，觉得自己生命活得毫无意义。一直到她决心选择为人服务的护士，当作自己一生的天职后，她才强烈感受充实的生命意义。传说南丁格尔曾听到上帝对她说话，要她成为护士，才选择这条道路。
19世纪50年代，英国、法国、土耳其和俄国进行了克里米亚战争，英国的战地战士死亡率高达42%。南丁格尔主动申请，自愿担任战地护士。她率领38名护士抵达前线，在战地医院服务。有一次，南丁格尔一边给伤员换药，一边安慰他，伤员感动得流下了泪水。这时候，一位少校军官进来把南丁格尔叫了出去，带着满脸不屑说：“小姐，你还是回伦敦去吧!你就是治好了伤员，他们也不可能再上战场了。”“为什么?”南丁格尔不解的问。“你想，一个动不动就流泪的人，能冲锋陷阵吗?你和你的同伴把他们娇宠坏了!”“不!”南丁格尔说，“在我眼中，他们是人，是兄弟，他们受伤了，应该得到护理和安慰。”她竭尽全力排除各种困难，为伤员解决必须的生活用品和食品，对他们进行认真的护理。仅仅半年左右的时间伤病员的死亡率就下降到2%。每个夜晚，她都手执风灯巡视，伤病员们亲切地称她为“提灯女士”。战争结束后，南丁格尔回到英国，被人们推崇为民族英雄。1860年，南丁格尔用政府奖励的4000多英镑创建了世界上第一所正规的护士学校。启德论坛里面更多的SAT，雅思，
Florence Nightingale was a celebrated English social reformer and statistician, and the founder of modern nursing. She came to prominence while serving as a nurse during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night.
Early 21st century commentators have asserted Nightingale's achievements in the Crimean War had been exaggerated by the media at the time, to satisfy the public's need for a hero. But her later achievements remain widely accepted. In 1860, Nightingale laid the foundation of professional nursing with the establishment of her nursing school at St Thomas' Hospital in London. It was the first secular nursing school in the world, now part of King's College London.
The Nightingale Pledge taken by new nurses was named in her honour, and the annual International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world on her birthday. Her social reforms include improving healthcare for all sections of British society; improving healthcare and advocating for better hunger relief in India; helping to abolish laws regulating prostitution that were overly harsh to women; and expanding the acceptable forms of female participation in the workforce. Nightingale was a prodigious and versatile writer.
In her lifetime much of her published work was concerned with spreading medical knowledge. Some of her tracts were written in simple English so they could easily be understood by those with poor literary skills. She helped popularize the graphical presentation of statistical data. Much of her writing, including her extensive work on religion and mysticism, has only been published posthumously.