Who was Florence Nightingale, and what is this comic about?

Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) was a British nurse, statistician, and social reformer. Encyclopaedia Britannica records her birth in Florence, Italy, her death in London on August 13, 1910, her Crimean War work at Scutari, her reputation as the Lady with the Lamp, her Crimean fever and later chronic illness, her 1859 Notes on Nursing, and the 1860 Nightingale Training School. The Guardian’s 1910 obituary confirms her death and describes her as the organiser and inspirer of the Crimean nursing service. The New York Times archive obituary confirms her death at ninety after a long invalid period. A PubMed-indexed medical history identifies her Crimean fever as likely brucellosis and traces the chronic illness that followed. Her worth is not just the lamp-lit image. Nightingale made care measurable without making it cold: sanitation, observation, ventilation, statistics, training, and public pressure became tools against preventable death.

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Page 1 of Florence Nightingale: Florence Nightingale: Lamp and Ledger - Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) refused to become an ornament. Before the lamp became legend, she chose the work Victorian society considered beneath her.
Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) refused to become an ornament. Before the lamp became legend, she chose the work Victorian society considered beneath her.
Page 2 of Florence Nightingale: Florence Nightingale: Lamp and Ledger - In the Crimean War, the hospital was another front. At Scutari she walked the night wards, and the lamp became a witness to preventable death.
In the Crimean War, the hospital was another front. At Scutari she walked the night wards, and the lamp became a witness to preventable death.
Page 3 of Florence Nightingale: Florence Nightingale: Lamp and Ledger - In 1855 she fell ill with Crimean fever, later linked by medical historians to brucellosis. The nurse came home carrying the war inside her body.
In 1855 she fell ill with Crimean fever, later linked by medical historians to brucellosis. The nurse came home carrying the war inside her body.
Page 4 of Florence Nightingale: Florence Nightingale: Lamp and Ledger - Chronic illness narrowed her rooms but not her reach. From bed, Nightingale turned grief into reports, letters, statistics, and pressure.
Chronic illness narrowed her rooms but not her reach. From bed, Nightingale turned grief into reports, letters, statistics, and pressure.
Page 5 of Florence Nightingale: Florence Nightingale: Lamp and Ledger - Notes on Nursing made care teachable: air, cleanliness, quiet, observation. She turned compassion into a discipline that could be learned.
Notes on Nursing made care teachable: air, cleanliness, quiet, observation. She turned compassion into a discipline that could be learned.
Page 6 of Florence Nightingale: Florence Nightingale: Lamp and Ledger - Her real weapon was not sentiment; it was evidence. She used statistics to force sanitation reform and helped build professional nursing.
Her real weapon was not sentiment; it was evidence. She used statistics to force sanitation reform and helped build professional nursing.
Page 7 of Florence Nightingale: Florence Nightingale: Lamp and Ledger - Florence Nightingale died in 1910. The lamp is what memory kept; the ledger is how she changed the odds of living.
Florence Nightingale died in 1910. The lamp is what memory kept; the ledger is how she changed the odds of living.