Florence Nightingale opens the first school for nurses at the St. Thomas hospital in London

Date: 15 Jun 1860
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

Florence Nightingale was a revered English nurse, writer and statistician. Nightingale chose to become a nurse over the popular role of wife and mother. Though her family was against it, they could not change her mind. She believed that she had been called by God to pursue a nursing career. Nightingale gained popularity during the Crimean war where she cared for wounded soldiers. In 1860 she established a nursing school at St Thomas Hospital in London. It was the first professional nursing school in the world. The nursing school is now part of King’s College London where nursing graduates take the Nightingale pledge, so named in her honour.

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01Country Joe Florence Nightingale The School for Nurses [online] Available at: www.countryjoe.com [Accessed on 28 May 2012]
02Britannica Florence Nightingale [online] Available at: www.britannica.com [Accessed on 28 May 2012]

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2012, June 7). Florence Nightingale opens the first school for nurses at the St. Thomas hospital in London. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0085163

South African History Online (2012) 'Florence Nightingale opens the first school for nurses at the St. Thomas hospital in London', South African History Online, 7 June. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0085163 (Accessed: 21 July 2026).

South African History Online, Florence Nightingale opens the first school for nurses at the St. Thomas hospital in London [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0085163, (accessed 21 July 2026).

"Florence Nightingale opens the first school for nurses at the St. Thomas hospital in London." South African History Online, 7 June 2012, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0085163. Accessed 21 July 2026.

South African History Online. "Florence Nightingale opens the first school for nurses at the St. Thomas hospital in London." South African History Online. June 7, 2012. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0085163.