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Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care

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A pioneering legacy

 

The Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care at King's is directly descended from the Nightingale Training School, which Florence herself helped to set up in 1860. Today, with a community of thousands of staff and students, the Faculty is having a greater impact than ever. We are continuing Nightingale’s legacy through education, research and international leadership - transforming the lives of patients and their families. New generations of healthcare professionals are going out into the world to make a real difference in people’s lives, with over 150 years of King’s history and expertise behind them. 

Key dates

  • 1854 Florence Nightingale and 38 other nurses leave for the Scutari Crimean War hospital. The Lady with the Lamp has become an iconic image in British culture.

  • 1860 The first nurses start training at Florence Nightingale’s school at St Thomas’ Hospital in London

  • 1910 Florence Nightingale died peacefully in her sleep age 90 at her home in Mayfair.

  • 1919 Olive Haydon publishes an account of the history of midwifery, predicting a future training college dedicated to formal education of midwives.

  • 1940 Cicely Saunders enrolled at the Nightingale School of Nursing.

  • 1967 Cicely Saunders founded St Christopher’s Hospice, the first research and teaching hospice linked with clinical care. It kick-started the hospice movement, and created the field of palliative medicine.

  • 1991-1993 The school becomes the Nightingale College of Health after merging with the Olive Haydon School of Midwifery and the Thomas Guy & Lewisham School of Nursing.

  • 1993 The Nightingale College of Health becomes part of King’s College London

  • 2002-2005 Cicely Saunders creates a centre of excellence for research and education in palliative care – the Cicely Saunders Institute.

  • 2005 Cicely died peacefully at St Christopher's, the renowned hospice she created.

  • 2014-2017 The school becomes a Faculty.

  • 2017 The Cicely Saunders Institute merges with the Faculty to create the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care.

 


Find out more about Florence & Cicely