Workhouse Nursing: The Story of a Successful Experiment

What it is

This is a written work by Florence Nightingale, published in 1867 by Macmillan and Co. It describes an experiment by the Select Vestry of Liverpool to introduce trained nurses into the male wards of a workhouse infirmary.

Why it matters

Workhouses housed some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in Victorian Britain, and their hospital wards were often poorly staffed and run. Nightingale wrote this account to promote the idea that trained nursing could improve care even for the poorest patients, showing how her reforms extended far beyond military hospitals into everyday social welfare.

Look closer

• Why might Nightingale have chosen to highlight a 'successful experiment' rather than write general advice?
• What does the focus on workhouse infirmaries tell you about who had access to good healthcare in this period?
• Who is the account addressed to, and what does that suggest about Nightingale's influence on public policy?