The Angel of Mercy During the Crimean War
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Both Mary Seacole and Florence Nightingale played pivotal roles in the Crimean War in regards to the augmentation of the realisation that medicine at war was inadequate. Both Mary Seacole and Florence Nightingale paved the way for medicine to be improved in the British army and I, therefore, disagree with the above statement as both women can be defined as angels of mercy during the Crimean War.
Florence Nightingale has been seen as a very prolific woman in terms of her influence during the Crimean War and the efforts she portrayed. The reason I believe that Florence Nightingale could be seen as the angel of mercy is because of the nature of her being able to assist in the Crimea. Florence had seen and heard the outcry from the reports of war and offered her services to help. Nightingale arrived in the Crimea with 38 nurses to set up hospitals and medical establishments to cater for over 10,000 men, a feat which, even by todays standards, was very nearly impossible to administrate. Nightingale was seen as a revelation to the Crimea as her assistance and services had been shown through the transformation in the hospital bases at war, as shown in source U. Source U portrays one of the wards in the Barrack Hospital and it is shown as a clean environment, one suitable for being a hospital. This was a transformation from the time prior to Nightingale coming to the Crimea as the medical facilities had been described as inadequate and men were dying primarily, not because of enemy assault, but of illnesses and infection. The very fact that Nightingales implementation of hygiene had made such as impact and her ability to uplift the injured and ill soldiers – as she was often describe “The Lady with the Lamp” – had proven its course as there was a direct correlation with the improved state of hospital barracks and the improved rates of recovery in the army hospitals. Additionally her ability to serve the army at such high demand reiterated the effort she was putting in as she often described the work – in her letters and journals – as “physically demanding” and “physically deteriorating”. It is important to note as well that Nightingale also performed not for financial gain or any self-orientated reasons but solely to assist the men who had been suffering at war.
Adversely Nightingale could also not be seen as the angel of mercy because – despite her pivotal role establishing the main aspects of the new, cleaner barracks – as time went by and more money was invested in her hospitals her role became less significant in terms that the work load could have been handled and appropriately managed without her, by other nurses. Additionally her hospitals were situated hundreds of miles away from the “Crimean Peninsula” and therefore meant many soldiers being transported from the battlefield to the hospitals either fell further ill or died because they did not receive treatment