Abstract
When, in the mid-nineteenth century, Florence Nightingale revolutionized nursing, practically all nurses were women and what counted as a good or virtuous woman reflected the values and ideals of Victorian England. Thus a question arises as to what extent Nightingale’s conception of a ‘good and intelligent nurse’ can be justified today when health care has been radically transformed by new knowledge and technology and our conception of a good or virtuous woman differs significantly from that which prevailed in her time.
“A woman cannot be a good and intelligent nurse without being a good and intelligent woman.”
Florence Nightingale
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© 1985 D. Reidel Publishing Company
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Benjamin, M., Curtis, J. (1985). Virtue and the Practice of Nursing. In: Shelp, E.E. (eds) Virtue and Medicine. Philosophy and Medicine, vol 17. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5229-4_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5229-4_13
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