10 Powerful Florence Nightingale Quotes

Being a nurse is not without facing challenges and stress every day at work- whether it’s facing off against a senior doctor, helping a seriously ill patient overcome pain, or preparing for a test. For times when you’re feeling low and down, it might help to seek inspiration from great people. When the chips are down, one of these powerful, Florence Nightingale Quotes, could inspire you to take action and move forward. Believe me, not only can it motivate you to confront your problems but it can also encourage you to pursue challenging goals.

Florence Nightingale is a powerful nurse symbol because she founded modern nursing. The lady with the lamp moved the nursing profession forward by leaps and bounds and her powerful nursing quotes never fail to inspire.

10 Powerful Florence Nightingale Quotes

All nurses have times when they have to stand strong, but there are times we can’t do it on our own. Here are some wise words from none other than the pioneer of the nursing profession as we know it today, Florence Nightingale. Take a look at these powerful quotes and get your dose of inspiration and encouragement. And get back to being the fantastic nurse you are!

I attribute my success to this:—I never gave or took an excuse.”

To achieve greatness, one should stop giving excuses. Plain and simple. If you’re going after great things at work and in life, stop plaguing yourself with lame excuses and take responsibility. For sure, it’s the only way to steer clear of roadblocks as you head down the path to greatness.

Rather, ten times, die in the surf, heralding the way to a new world, than stand idly on the shore.”

Whether you’re feeling stuck in your life or just finding you’re stalling instead of killing that to-do list, muster up the courage and motivation to get going. Taking action might seem daunting when you’re at a point to take a big decision. While a bit of planning, preparation and legwork is important, the fact of the matter is that taking the right kind of action will have a great compounding effect to take you through the big decision.

The very first requirement in a hospital is that it should do the sick no harm.”

Surely this needs no detailing. Patient care should always be the key objective for any healthcare provider. As simple as that.

Live life when you have it. Life is a splendid gift-there is nothing small about it.”

Living life to the fullest is one of the most common goals- something by which we measure and motivate ourselves. However, figuring out how to do it is a conundrum that has challenged so many people throughout the ages. It may not be a complex problem after all. Treat your life as a gift, appreciate every little thing and develop a sense of purpose- a convincing and fulfilling reason to get out of bed and to keep going.

You ask me why I do not write something…. I think one’s feelings waste themselves in words, they ought all to be distilled into actions and into actions which bring results.”

If thinking about something or writing your to-do lists could solve your problems, they would be gone by now. You change things in your life by taking action and by doing things that matter. “What can I do that will turn things around?” and “What is possible here?” are a few questions to get you started.

If a nurse declines to do these kinds of things for her patient, “because it is not her business,” I should say that nursing was not her calling. I have seen surgical “sisters,” women whose hands were worth to them two or three guineas a-week, down upon their knees scouring a room or hut, because they thought it otherwise not fit for their patients to go into. I am far from wishing nurses to scour. It is a waste of power. But I do say that these women had the true nurse-calling—the good of their sick first, and second only the consideration what it was their “place” to do—and that women who wait for the housemaid to do this, or for the charwoman to do that, when their patients are suffering, have not the making of a nurse in them.”

You’ve always wanted to be a nurse. Great. You found your calling and decided to follow it through. Don’t let anything come in your way that stops you from giving better patient care. Because that’s what matters the most.

If a patient is cold, if a patient is feverish, if a patient is faint, if he is sick after taking food, if he has a bed-sore, it is generally the fault not of the disease, but of the nursing.”

Good quality nursing simply means a fulfilling experience for patients. Your approach and attitude is important in securing this experience for patients, enabling them to be cared for as a human not a case. So be in close contact with patients and deliver effective care with compassion and humanity.

So never lose an opportunity of urging a practical beginning, however small, for it is wonderful how often in such matters the mustard-seed germinates and roots itself.”

All great things have humble beginnings. Be committed, step out and take the journey. Your breakthrough will come along.

Wise and humane management of the patient is the best safeguard against infection.”

Quality nursing ignores infection, except to keep it in check. Unremitting attention to the patient, with effective nursing practices and prompt interventions, are some tools a true nurse needs to have in her repertoire.

I am of certain convinced that the greatest heroes are those who do their duty in the daily grind of domestic affairs whilst the world whirls as a maddening dreidel.”

The real heroes are those who find a way to improve things around them through the course of their daily lives. In the nursing industry, there are many heroes who leave fine imprints of positive change because they deliver exceptional care to patients, beyond what’s expected of them. Keep doing what you’re doing and you could be one of them.

So the next time you’re faced with an obstacle on the job, I hope you’ll take inspiration from some of these quotes and think about why you decided to choose one of the most noble and satisfying professions in the first place.

Don’t forget to share some of these Nightingale quotes with your coworkers.

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Florence is my Homegirl - Nursing shirt
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More Florence Nightingale Wisdom

What is your favorite Nightingale quote? Chime in with your comments.

And check out the History of the Nursing Profession and Nurse Symbols for more on Florence Nightingale. ANd for a laugh, check out Funny Nurse Memes to Brighten Your Day.

For more from the amazing Florence Nightingale, check out theses books:

Florence Nightingale: The Courageous Life of the Legendary NurseFlorence Nightingale: The Courageous Life of the Legendary Nurse10 Powerful Florence Nightingale Quotes - AmazonBlack e1413517778206Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What It Is Not (Dover Books on Biology)Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What It Is Not (Dover Books on Biology)10 Powerful Florence Nightingale Quotes - AmazonBlack e1413517778206Florence Nightingale: A Life InspiredFlorence Nightingale: A Life Inspired10 Powerful Florence Nightingale Quotes - AmazonBlack e1413517778206Florence Nightingale (On My Own Biographies (Paperback))Florence Nightingale (On My Own Biographies (Paperback))10 Powerful Florence Nightingale Quotes - AmazonBlack e1413517778206Florence Nightingale - To Her Nurses (New Edition)Florence Nightingale – To Her Nurses (New Edition)10 Powerful Florence Nightingale Quotes - AmazonBlack e1413517778206Heart and Soul: The Story of Florence NightingaleHeart and Soul: The Story of Florence Nightingale10 Powerful Florence Nightingale Quotes - AmazonBlack e1413517778206

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3 thoughts on “10 Powerful Florence Nightingale Quotes”

  1. Rita Biesemans

    C A L L E D TO BE A N U R S E
    When You called me to be a nurse
    I pretended to be deaf, not to hear
    but Your call was very terse
    I felt You more than ever near
    I loved my job as a translator
    I tried with all my might to escape
    the deal with My celestial Debater
    looking for the smallest tiniest gape
    I barely ate, I barely slept
    I refused to watch “Dr. Kildare”
    for his nurse on me her eyes she kept
    I had to run from her inviting stare
    I like to serve but if at all
    then as a flight attendant
    this dragged my parents into a brawl
    in which I acted as the defendant
    Then came the day that I woke up
    hearing Your inviting Voice
    offering me to share Your loving Cup 
    how could I refuse this choice
    You asked me to prepare
    myself for “my task for later”
    to get ready for the nursing care
    and in Your Name to cater.
    I accepted without restriction
    and went swift to nursing school
    my belief and strong conviction
    became my most powerful tool
    You’ve always been with me at the bedside
    even patients testified of Your presence
    some of them hot tears they cried 
    thankful to receive so much pleasance
    but Lord wherever You are
    there Your opponent prowls
    as the magnificent dog star
    enticing me to throw in the towels
    I may well have lost a battle
    but You promised me the victory
    he will stop his tail rattle
    when I read him his valedictory

    I trust in You, my Savior and Provider.
    Rita Biesemans, written 01/09/2014
    I became a registered Nurse, MSN in the year 1970, I became a MIDWIFE in the year 1980.
    I’m retired now but I miss miss miss being at the bedside and pamper my patients. The knowledge of several languages was an absolute plus point !!! Riki

  2. Please include:

    “How very little can be done under the spirit of fear.” -Florence Nightingale

    So much in Nursing is fear-driven.

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