Nightingale McAuley

Write a one-page reflection write submission identifying five similarities between Florence
Nightingale and Catherine McAuley.

Submit the assignment via Blackboard.

Florence Nightingale and Catherine McAuley were two very extraordinary people. Florence
Nightingale was at the precipice of nursing as it is today, and Catherine McAuley helped define
needs for the poor and sick, and eventually starting the Sister of Mercy. Both Florence and
Catherine have similar qualities, which many also are qualities many nurses have.

The first similarity is that of perseverance. They both endured so many struggles to get to where
they wanted to be. In particular, Nightingale came from a very well-off and prominent family.
At the time, they were not to be in the dirty hospitals and directly caring for people who were of
such low class. She faced difficulties in people responding, especially her family and close
friends. In the end, she made a name for herself through all the turmoil and did what she
believed was right. McAuley, fought many different battles as well to get to where she wanted.
Both McAuley and Nightingale dealt with undermining circumstances and they still stood up for
what they believed in. McAuley went against many of her families wishes and spend her
inheritance on founding a house to help the poor.

The second similarity was that they were pioneers in their field. McAuley grew up initially
wealthy, but then her father passed away and her mother spent her money unwisely. After her
mother passed, she went through a few homes, but the problem was being Catholic was not as
accepted, so many pushed her to become Protestant. She resisted and continued to do work she
believed in, and eventually founded the Sisters of Mercy. She founded the chapters in wealthy
communities, so that the rich could not disregard the poor because they were literally right on
their block. That is still the truth today in many of her chapters around the world. Similarly,
Nightingale was born in a very wealthy family, and felt she had a calling that she needed to
attend to, but was unaware of what she would do. She finally found her calling after speaking to
a few doctors, and decided to go to a local city hospital, which at the time was totally
unacceptable for someone of such wealth and high class to do. She went against many of her
family members wishes and tried to fix conditions in the hospitals, and eventually going to other
countries and helping soldiers. She was a key person in making nursing what it is today, not
only using art and interpersonal skills, but also science. She also was key in training of nurses.
She wanted her nurses to be proficient in many of the times medicine.

The third and fourth qualities that they both shared were understanding and compassion They
were advocates for the poor and needy. They understood who they needed cared for, and always
helped them when they needed it. McAuley founded the home and helped the poor learn, eat,
and sleep. She understood what it was like to have to sleep on floors since at a time, she jumped
from home to home and sleeping on the floor sometimes after her mother passed away. The
compassion she had for the needy was extraordinary, and she continued to help whenever she
could. She inadvertently founded the Sisters of Mercy to just help them. Nightingale as well
wanted so badly to understand the sick and injured in the hospitals. She was a very intelligent
person who found some science behind why many of the men and women in the hospitals were
so sick. She had such a compassion for them, and at one point, every soldier knew who she was
and always hoped they would see her if they were injured on the battlefield, because she took
charge and saw conditions around the battlefield. She understood what these men had endured
because she saw it first hand, and had to change it.

The last similarity was that they were absolutely fearless. Nightingale pushed and pushed to get
her way, and help the conditions of hospitals. She did not care what many of the people thought
of her. She wanted to improve conditions at the local and overseas hospitals with the sick and
the injured/sick soldiers. She waited patiently for the perfect time to jump in to help, and
eventually got exactly what she wanted. She had so much resistance against her, but she was not
scared and pushed back more as they resisted more. Similarly, McAuley had a ton of wealth
given to her at one point, and everyone said that she was crazy to not marry and spend it, but she
knew in her heart that it was not what she was put here to do. She also faced lots of resistance
because she was Catholic, as I mentioned previously. Her family encouraged her to change
religions, but she did not care and wanted to practice without fear.

During class, we discussed not only the learned qualities, but the innate qualities that nurses must
possess. Both these women had many of those qualities, and pushed their ideas and stood up for
themselves to make a difference. Nursing would not be where it is without Nightingale, and the
chapters of the Sisters of Mercy would not be what it is today without McAuley. They were
innately caring and powerful people of their time.