Ann Preston
At the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th, in a time of slaves and slave traders, there were already those who rebelled against these practices. One of them were the parents of one of our protagonists: Ann Preston, who, following the moral line of her parents, would become an important figure in our history.
Preston did her first studies at the local school and later as a boarding school in Pennsylvania. She suspended her studies to take care of her sick mother and younger siblings. To further her education, she joined local cultural organizations, such as a literary group and the Clarkson Anti-Slavery Society, where she served as secretary. She also actively lobbied for women’s rights.
She started working as a school teacher after her siblings were old enough. He wanted to educate women about their anatomy, physiology, and body hygiene. They wore tight clothes that covered their entire bodies and their socialization was limited at that time, that all this was a taboo subject; therefore, their activities were carried out continuously inside. To do this, Preston wanted the ladies to have access to education. She studied medicine as an apprentice to a physician named Nathanial R. Moseley between 1847 and 1849. This was the only way for women to practice medicine at the time, but they couldn’t practice medicine later.
In 1849, he attempted to enter various medical colleges, but was denied admission because of his sex. Finally, in 1850, she was accepted into the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania.
In fact, this school is considered to be the first medical institution in the United States that granted official doctorates to women. At the time of Preston’s death, 130 women had already obtained their degrees to practice medicine. It was renamed the Medical College of Pennsylvania after beginning to accept males in 1970.
Preston graduated in December 1851 when she was 38 years old, along with seven other women. However, being able to study was not enough. Frequently, in a society unaccustomed to seeing women doctors, they had enormous difficulties in obtaining “clients.” Although Preston was one of those who was amassing successes.
In 1857, the Philadelphia Medical Society refused to allow women to practice medicine in its hospitals. The response of our protagonist was forceful: She founded a hospital for women in Philadelphia where she could practice medicine and provide training to university students. To do this, he had to go door to door raising funds. Unfortunately, Preston fell ill with rheumatic fever, a condition that exhausted her and caused her constant pain.
In 1861 the Civil War broke out and the university was closed due to lack of funds. Meanwhile, Emmeline Horton Cleveland (1829-1878), one of Preston’s apprentices, was able to go to Paris and London to study obstetrics and gynecology with the funds Preston had raised. Emmeline was promoted to chief resident at her hospital after a few years.
Preston became dean in 1866, a post she held until 1872. She was thus the first female dean of a medical college or school. Before this event, she founded a school for nurses. It would be Horton who would take over as Dean after Preston’s death.
The truth is that Emmeline also had a memorable career. She was one of the first women in the United States to perform abdominal and gynecological surgery. In the 1960s, a women’s hospital was built, staffed exclusively by women. Obstetric and gynecological care was offered, as well as pediatric care for children. In addition, the doctors who had trained at the College could do their practices there.
Preston died on April 18, 1872. He bequeathed his instruments and money to establish a college scholarship at his institution.
Florence Nightingale
For many, if the Greek Hippocrates is the father of Western medicine, Nightingale is the mother of modern nursing. Thanks to the efforts of Florence Nightingale, nursing is one of the most regulated and revered professions in the world.
He was born on May 12, 1820 into an upper-class British family, in Florence (Italy), from where his name comes. Because of her social position and the times, she was expected to marry, run a nice residence, and be an excellent mother.
However, Florence Nightingale had a very different goal. She left England to study at the Kaiser Hospital in Dusseldorf, Germany at the age of 24, defying her parents’ expectations to marry, after feeling strongly driven to become a nurse, even though it was not considered a respectable profession at the time.
On her return from Germany, she worked as a nurse in a London hospital. Within a year she was promoted to head nurse. She worked hard to improve sanitary conditions and improved them so much that she earned a reputation as a health reformer and advocate for public health.
During the Crimean War (1853-1856), the British press highlighted the horrible conditions of wounded troops in Turkey, so the army sought Nightingale’s help. When she and her group of nurses arrived at Scutari, the Crimean hospital, what they found was surprising: the field hospitals were built on putrid cesspits and the sick lay in the filth. It was to be expected that more soldiers died from infections than from their own battle wounds.
Many of the changes that Florence Nightingale introduced were quite groundbreaking for those who were used to it, as she insisted that soldiers have access to fresh air and water, as well as healthy food to help them get better. He also saw to it that bandages, bedding, and blankets were properly washed daily.
By the end of the war, Nightingale had reduced mortality in military hospitals by two-thirds, for which she became known as the “Crimean Angel”, although she is also known as the “Lady with the Lamp”, because she was usual to see her with an oil lamp visiting her patients.
Upon his return to England, he received a great reception, as well as a medal of appreciation from Queen Victoria and $250,000.
He devoted the rest of his life to making changes in health care. In fact, in 1860 Florence Nightingale founded her own Nightingale Nursing School at St. Thomas Hospital in London, which is currently considered the best nursing school in the United Kingdom and third in the world. In addition, she pioneered the use of the most advanced statistical methods of her day to design hospitals and medical systems to improve the health of the community as a whole. This helped her a lot to get her message out to the high-ranking leaders who would make important health decisions.
In her later years, Nightingale was recognized by Germany, France, Norway and several prestigious British organisations. She died at her home in London on August 3, 1910. Florence Nightingale’s life and work were instrumental in the development of the nursing profession as it is known today.
References:
Germany and Castilla, C. (2022, February 2). Ann Preston, physician and advocate for equality | Scientific Lives | Women with science. Women With Science . Retrieved from: https://mujeresconciencia.com/2022/02/02/ann-preston-medica-y-defensora-de-la-igualdad/
Ann Preston | American physician and educator | Britannica. (2022). Retrieved from: Encyclopædia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ann-Preston
Changing the Face of Medicine | AnnPreston. (2015). Retrieved from: Nih.gov. https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_256.html
Macho Stadler, M. (2017, August 22). Florence Nightingale, much more than the lady with the lamp | Science and more | Women with science. Women With Science. Retrieved from: https://mujeresconciencia.com/2017/08/22/florence-nightingale-mucho-mas-la-dama-la-lampara/
Preston, A. (1831-1880). Ann Preston, MD papers. Dexel University: College of Medicine Legacy Center. Retrieved from: http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/pacscl/ead.html?id=PACSCL_DUCOM_DUCOMWMSC537
Wikipedia Contributors. (2021, August 2). Ann Preston. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Preston
Wikipedia Contributors. (2004, June 21). Florence Nightingale. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved from: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale
Wikipedia Contributors. (2021, December 24). Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale_Faculty_of_Nursing_and_Midwifery
