ABSTRACT
Nightingale was, in the light of her experiences at Scutari in the Crimean War, far more interested in the health of soldiers than sailors. However, in 1867 she was already engaged in a correspondence on health in the mercantile marine with her brother-in-law, Captain Harry Verney. A Surgeon’s Report soon after removal to land contained the following disquieting reference to nurse staffing: For some months past the proportion of severe to mild Cases has increased and, as is indicated by the increasing death rate, there has been a larger proportion in the cases under treatment of acute and severe disease. In 1877, the Committee Management at last gave the go-ahead for a ‘Dreadnought School for Nurses’ – largely for its own purposes; this pioneering move, presumably initiated by Mrs Brown, was probably ahead of its time. The ‘rules’ for male nurses were very different from those of their female counterparts, and were printed separately in the 1875 pamphlet.
