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In the future which I shall not see, for I am old, may a better way be opened! May the methods by which every infant, every human being will have the best chance at health - the methods by which every sick person will have the best chance at recovery, be learned and practiced. Hospitals are only an intermediate stage of civilization, never intended, at all events, to take in the whole sick population ....
May we hope that, when we are all dead and gone, leaders will arise who have been personally experienced in the hard, practical work, the difficulties, and the joys of organizing nursing reforms, and who will lead far beyond anything we have done! May we hope that every nurse will be an atom in the hierarchy of ministers of the Highest! But she [or he] must be in her [or his] place in the hierarchy, not alone, not an atom in the indistinguishable mass of thousands of nurses. High hopes, which shall not be deceived!
- Florence Nightingale, 1893(1)
Nurses are acclaimed as the most trusted professional group in the world. For the eighth consecutive year, nursing has been voted the most trusted profession in America for their honesty and ethical standards, according to Gallup's annual survey of professions. Eighty-three percent of Americans believe nurses' honesty and ethical standards are either "high" or "very high."2
Today, there are 15 million nurses and midwives working worldwide.3 Nurses and midwives are educated and prepared - physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually - to effectively accomplish the activities required on the ground, to facilitate the realization of healthy people living on a healthy planet.
To explore these ideas more fully, this article will focus on the historical holistic perspective of Florence Nightingale's legacy, the holistic nursing movement in the United States, and its influence on nurses' roles in 21st-century global nursing.
NIGHTINGALE'S LEGACY
The year 2010 marks 100 years since the death of Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) at age 90.4 Nightingale was the philosophical founder of modern nursing and the first recognized nurse theorist. She had a holistic and integrative perspective, as she focused on the individual and the collective, the inner and outer, and human and nonhuman concerns.5 Nightingale delved into the most basic...