Florence Nightingale - Statistics in Health Care

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 FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE - STATISTICS IN HEALTH CARE



Measurement in health can also be the use of statistical data to either highlight a potential health issue, or aim to predict possible outcomes. Florance Nightingale, who was born in May 1820, is credited with revolutionising nursing through her introduction of statistics in health care. Nightingale is greatly known for her distinction as a nurse caring for soldiers throughout the Crimean War, and her education on sanitary reform (Wikipedia, 2020).  However, Nightingale also produced famous diagrams, which showed the high proportion of soldiers that were dying due to diseases rather than battle wounds. Nightingale also designed questionnaires to gather data on the British armies stationed in India, on their sanitary conditions, and predict potential health problems. Nightingale also studied the mortality rates of Australian First Nations people and stated that a health problem can only be addressed once its dimensions were reliably established.

Prior to Nightingale going to the Crimean war, the British army did not record any reasons for the soldiers’ deaths, however, Nightingale collected data about everything (Bates, 2020). By doing this she was able to show that changes to soldiers’ sanitation and diet, would reduce the hospitals’ death rate from 42% to just 2% (Bates, 2020). Nightingale believed that it is only when you gather data that patterns emerge, and things become more clear. Nightingale would use the evidence she gathered instead of instinct or tradition to make her nursing decisions and show the outcomes to others. When presenting the data to others, Nightingale would present her data in infographics, and pictures, making it difficult for people to miss it. Nightingale is also credited as being the creator of the polar area diagram, which she created for people who would have been unlikely to be able to read or interpret traditional statistical reports with assistance (Wikipedia, 2020).



It is now believed that the evidence gathered and shared by Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War on sanitation and diet, played a crucial role in increasing the average life expectancy of British citizens by 20 years during the period 1871 and 1935 when no other medical science made an impact on the most fatal epidemic diseases (Small, 2017).

The next blog will be an interview with a current nurse, and their views on the use of measurement in health care.

 

References

Bates, R. (2020, March 23). Florence Nightingale: a pioneer of hand washing and hygiene for health. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/florence-nightingale-a-pioneer-of-hand-washing-and-hygiene-for-health-134270

Small, H. (2017, August). Florence Nightingale and Her Real Legacy. Florence Nightingale’s Forgotten Legacy: Public Health Laws. http://www.florence-nightingale-avenging-angel.co.uk/blog/?page_id=861

Wikipedia. (2020, May 13). Florence Nightingale. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale#Statistics_and_sanitary_reform

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