Page 25 - QARANC Vol 14 No 7 2013

This year the Florence Nightingale service fell on Florence’s birthday the 12 May which is appropriately enough is also World Nurses day.
I had the honour of laying a wreath at Florence memorial that lies outside the ancient church of St Margaret’s in East Wellow, which was her place of worship until her death in 1910. For me it was particularly significant as I trained at St Thomas Hospital London the intuition, which housed the first school for nurses, started in 1865. The lady sitting directly behind in the church turned out to be my director of nursing when I did my training. As I was an untroubled student she didn’t remember me but expressed how proud she was that the Nightingale influence had spread to the Army! The service has the traditional carrying of a lighted candle to the altar by a student nurse.
The Readings were performed by representatives of the Royal College of Nursing, and the congregation came from as far a field as America which has a Nightingale Association (no history of their own!) Hector MacDonald the principal of Hampshire Collegiate School, which is now housed in Florence’s old home, performed the sermon. He told us of a women who was born before her time who used methods of data recording and
analysis which is still used today at a very early age, but was held back by being a women and her full potential may never have been reached.
After the service there was a lunch at the near by Wellow Village Hall not a curry lunch for a change. At this lunch I met a lady who was 100 who turned out not only to be a Nightingale (trained at St Thomas’s) but also was a QARANC nurse. A true inspiration to us all.
I took my daughter with me and
although she was not impressed that she was the only child there did enjoy the attention that this brought and the numerous trips to the desert table.
I would like to thank the East Wellow church committee for inviting the QARANC association to attend the service which was very moving and fitting for such a great influence on nursing world wide.
Ruth Black Capt MDHU Pm
THE GAZETTE QARANC 23
Florence Nightingale
Commemorative Service East Wellow 12 May 2013