Florences are thin on the ground

 A few weeks ago I wrote about International Year of the Nurse (IYNurse), . I have still not seen much in the media about the courageous women who toil at this essential job. 

There was, however, one anonymous comment on my blog:"This has reminded me to write a detailed story on Elsie Clare Pidgeon. She was a nurse in WW1, and won the Florence Nightingale Medal. I want to add a scrapbook entry to the Mapping Our Anzacs website too. In the meantime visit http://www.wepidgeon.com/elsie.htm". Elsie's story is fascinating and well worth a read.

Co-incidentally in this post, Orange district's early nurses and doctors, historian Lis Edwards is calling for help with stories for her writing of "the definitive history of nurses, doctors and hospitals in the Orange district to coincide with the opening of the new Orange Base Hospital next year.

Found a Florence in your family tree? Please share the story.

Nearly half the year has gone and I just discovered that this year, 2010, is International Year of the Nurse (IYNurse). It is the centenary year of the death of the founder of modern nursing - Florence Nightingale (1820-1910). In a 2009 poll "nurses have been voted the most trusted profession in America according to Gallup's annual survey of professions for their honesty and ethical standards".


On its website The Royal College of Nursing, Australia (RCNA) states "RCNA  is dedicated to profiling the achievements of Australian nurses throughout the year". Unfortunately I can't find any  IYNurse stories on their site. There have been some celebrations in the United States,  a new Florence Nightingale Museum has been opened in London and the International website invites people to submit Nurse Stories and Nurse Tributes.

I need to scour my family tree to see if I can find some nurses to write about. There must be some wonderful nurse stories lurking in family histories all around the world.

Genealogists, let's not let 2010 slip away without recognising this noble profession. How about  sharing the stories of the Florences in your tree on your blogs and websites in this International Year of the Nurse?