Florence Nightingale's legacy: A travel in time

Abstract

The objective of this descriptive, qualitative, historical study is to reflect about the modes in which Florence Nightingale is represented in nursing scientific production from 1950 until 2008. The source of this study was the PubMed database, with 79 studies analyzed through the abstracts of their publications. After analysis, the following categories arose - Florence's history, the author's view, knowledge and practices established by Florence Nightingale: from The Charity Sisters to the Crimean War; Education and the bridges to professional nursing; and Florence Nightingale, feminist, reactionary, and administrator? Her role as an administrator, educator, statistician, and her contradictory feminism is highlighted. It is concluded that Florence Nightingale's life and her role as a modern nursing creator in the world is reinforced as something positive - a woman that dedicated her life to caring for others and to the professionalization of nursing.