Florence Nightingale: Visionary for the Role of Clinical Nurse Specialist

Abstract

Florence Nightingale is well known as the mother of nursing, aptly recognized as “Lady in Chief”, immortalized as “the Lady with the Lamp”, and revered as a visionary and a catalyst for healthcare reform. Nightingale’s life and impact on patient care, nursing and nursing practice, and healthcare systems and organizations parallel the clinical nurse specialist (CNS) roles and three spheres of impact. In this article we highlight key events of Nightingale’s work that illustrate her calling and devotion as a nurse and review her observations of organizations and nursing practice and her famous twenty-month experience (1854-1856) in the Crimean War at the British Army Hospitals at Scutari. Nightingale’s critical thinking and problem analyses; implementation of interventions and positive outcomes; advancement of nursing practice based on evidence; detailed documentation and statistical analysis; and tenacious political advocacy to reform healthcare systems resembles the role of the CNS as an expert clinician, nurse educator, researcher, consultant, and leader in healthcare systems and policy creation. This article explores Nightingale’s contribution to nursing practice and education as a visionary for the role of the clinical nurse specialist.