Nurses During The Crimean War

The Crimean War also led to changes in military hospital administration and in the methods used by surgeons on the battlefield. The Crimean War and beyond saw nurses become a necessity in conflict zones. Public outcry at the horrific state of affairs abroad for soldiers as exposed in The Times, led to Florence Nightingale, in 1954, asking the British War Office if she, along with 38 other nurses, could go to Crimea to care for British Soldiers (Fee et al., 2010, page). Nightingale was granted permission and given funds to address dietary concerns, proper dressing of wounds, cleanliness, and to acquire the necessary medicines (Ferguson 1901, 624). The need for cleanliness in war hospitals and barracks had not yet been realized by government
It was a century-old ex-barracks that housed three-thousand cots, 18-inches apart, and was home to only one thermometer (Merridew 2014, page). Scutari also contained an infected water supply that they later found out was due to a dead horse falling into the hospitals main well (Merridew 2014, page). The war hospitals of the time were death houses. Government failed to realize the importance of protecting the health of their soldiers. Allowing nurses to the front helped with the health but the hospitals still presented a problem. Therefore, British administration was forced to reorganize the current attitude regarding war hospitals. In February of 1855, the British War Office invited Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the foremost British engineer of the nineteenth century, to put forth a proposal for a new portable hospital to be used in Turkey for British troops overseas (Merridew 2014, page). Brunel’s Civil Hospital prioritized sanitation, adequate kitchen and laundry space, air conditioning, insulation, space for the injured and those in place to take care of them (Merridew 2014, page). Brunel’s design prevented overcrowding, poor diet, and lack of ventilation, core issues of epidemic
The Allies technically won, but were faced with an embarrassing showing and a lack of concrete positives. Prior to the conflict, Britain was coming off a long period of peace and possessed only 70 field guns, the type used at Waterloo, and were now forced to reconcile with the fact that changes must be made (Wintringham year, 121). British military administration ushered in a new era of professionalism, eliminating the Sales of Commission that allowed for wealthy and influential people to purchase a commission in the army (123). Advanced technologies required qualified people to operate them and allowing the wealthy to purchase high positions in the army dissuades the properly trained people from attaining the positions necessary. Additionally, on the opposing side of the Allies, Russia’s defeat led to a wide range of social, economic, and military changes. Prior to the Crimean War Russia benefited from pre-industrial technology, that is, relatively stagnant technological advancement in armament and transport. Major powers, like Russia, used the smoothbore frontloading musket along with compatible artillery (Pintner 1984, 232). Furthermore, transport during the time relied on horse and foot and it wasn’t until the invention of the railroad that Russia began to fall behind in this respect (232). Also,