The Florence Nightingale Museum is located at St Thomas' Hospital, which faces the Palace of Westminster across the River Thames in South Bank, central London, England. It is open to the public seven days a week. It re-opened on 12 May 2010 following an extensive £1.4m refurbishment.
The museum tells the real story of Florence Nightingale, "the lady with the lamp", from her Victorian childhood to her experiences in the Crimean, through to her years as an ardent campaigner for health reform. Nightingale is recognised as the founder of modern nursing in the United Kingdom. The new museum explains her legacy and also celebrates nursing today.
In 1860, four years after her famous involvement in the Crimean War, Nightingale founded the Nightingale Training School for nurses at St. Thomas' Hospital and the museum is located on this site.
The new museum is designed around three exciting pavilions that tell her story,
The Gilded Cage tells the story of Nightingale's privileged childhood and her struggle against stifling social conventions.
The Calling is dramatic and moving, explaining how Nightingale and her team coped with the crisis in the military hospitals where the legend of the lady with the lamp was born.
Reform and Inspire shows the other side of Nightingale, the reformer who campaigned tirelessly for health reform at home and abroad.
There is a free tour every Wednesday 3.30-4pm for the highlights of the museum.
