University of Phoenix co-sponsors Florence Nightingale letters exhibit
Angie Strawn stands with the letters.
As a nurse, she put her heart and soul into patient care. As a social reformer, she sought to formalize nursing education. As a statistician, she gathered evidence showing that implementing sanitation standards could reduce infection and mortality rates. As an administrator, she was actively involved in the management of the nursing school established in her name.
Florence Nightingale took each of these roles very seriously — as evidenced in the more than 14,000 letters that she wrote throughout the 1800s to nurses, health care officials and patients' families, for example. Her prolific correspondence reflects her efforts on behalf of the nursing profession, as well as her personal communications with family and friends. And more than 100 years after her death in 1910, she continues to inspire those who read her letters and study her life.
An inspiration for today's nurses
Angie Strawn is one of those individuals whom Nightingale has inspired with her tenacious dedication to the practice of nursing. The associate dean of the College of Nursing at University of Phoenix is accompanying a traveling exhibit that features two of Nightingale's letters at nursing-related conferences throughout the United States. University of Phoenix is displaying the letters in partnership with Gannett Education, which provides continuing nurse education, and Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing's Future, an effort to recruit and retain nurses. The next exhibit will take place Oct. 4–6, 2011, at the ANCC National Magnet Conference in Baltimore.
Most of Nightingale’s letters are in private collections of libraries and universities across the country. But conference attendees can view the two letters — written in 1861 — at the traveling exhibit. “The visual is huge!” says Strawn of the exhibit setup. There is a large graphical timeline of Nightingale's life against a backdrop to initially attract attention. Visitors are guided in further by poster-sized reproductions of the letters that hang alongside typed transcriptions. The actual framed letters are displayed at the back of the booth. In these letters, Strawn says Nightingale emphasizes the commitment necessary to keeping her nursing school functioning, discussing operating funds and hiring recommendations.
“I've had the best time meeting with the nurses who visit the booth,” says Strawn, who's serving as the Nightingale expert at the exhibit. “It's as if lights go on in their eyes when I tell them about her life, her letters and the context in which she wrote them.”
Strawn is especially excited to have met University of Phoenix alumni, faculty and students at the exhibits this year. She said they're proud to see the University co-sponsoring an exhibit of such an influential, inspiring person in their profession.
“When you read her messages, you see her calling to patient care,” says Strawn. “She's a historical figure, but her message is timeless and relevant today. She was a lady before her time.”
