As with natural disasters such as earthquakes, war exacts a heavy psychological toll on those of its victims fortunate enough to avoid death or injury. Ironically, one of the first recorded sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder was a person who defined the very nature and development of modern nursing techniques.
Florence Nightingale was born in 1820 to a well-off English family living on inherited wealth. Educated mainly by her father, she enjoyed a privileged and comfortable childhood. A profound religious experience at the age of sixteen eventually led to her doing charity work in hospitals rather than accepting either of two marriage proposals, much to the horror of her deeply conservative family.
True horror was to confront Florence as soon as she arrived at a military hospital in Turkey in 1854. She had already acquired a reputation for her nursing expertise and had been asked to help treat British soldiers wounded in the Crimean War. She was devoted to duty even amid appalling conditions and earned herself the nickname "Lady of the Lamp" for her habit of doing the rounds late at night.
Badly traumatized by her experiences, the now-famous Florence Nightingale never again made a public appearance after returning to England. Despite suffering ill health until she died in 1910, she worked tirelessly behind the scenes to establish training schools and get nursing accepted as a recognized profession. Nowadays, her worldwide legacy bears witness to her efforts.
戰爭,如同地震等其他的自然災害一樣,讓那些幸免遇難的人們的心靈上也留下難以磨滅的創傷。有這樣一個曾患過“戰后精神創傷壓力失調癥”的病人,正是由于她解釋了現代護理技術的性質,才確立了發展的護理技術的方向。?C
1820年佛羅倫斯南丁格爾出生在英國一個繼承了大批遺產的富裕家庭。父親對她進行的教育,讓南丁格爾享受了一段優裕和舒適的童年時光。十六歲時的一次讓她難忘的宗教體驗,使她毅然投身醫院的慈善工作。她曾拒絕了兩次求婚,這樣的決定讓極為保守的家人震驚萬分。
1854年,南丁格爾抵達土耳其的戰地醫院,這次她開始面對真正的恐懼。當時由于她專業的護理技術而頗受敬重,因此被要求幫助和照顧在克里米亞戰爭中受傷的英國士兵。在那樣令人恐懼的環境里,她仍能全力以赴地投入工作,而且因為她有夜間巡視病人的習慣,使她贏得了“油燈女士”的美名。
這番經歷使她的精神受到重創,佛羅倫斯南丁格爾返回英國之后就不再公開露面。1910在年她去世前,盡管健康狀況一直不佳,她仍不遺余力地致力于培訓學校的幕后工作。由她創建的訓練學校,讓護理工作成為了倍受肯定的專業?,F在,她的遺物傳遍世界的各個角落,成為她努力的最好見證。