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Florence Nightingale: nineteenth century apostle of quality

Florence Nightingale: nineteenth century apostle of quality Purpose – Florence Nightingale has long been known for her contributions to the nursing field, but her pioneering work in quality management has gone virtually undiscussed. This paper addresses the significant contributions of Nightingale to the field of quality management. Design/methodology/approach – The paper begins with a brief biographical background and then discusses her work during the Crimean War. Florence's approach to addressing service quality issues and her use of statistical methods are detailed. The paper then extends to her work following the Crimean War and concludes with an interesting comparative commentary relating Florence Nightingale to Dr W. Edwards Deming. Quotes from Florence's writings are interjected liberally throughout. Findings – This paper brings a new historical perspective to the field of quality management and reveals a nineteenth century apostle of quality. The current alarm regarding quality in health care practice bears more than a fleeting resemblance to Florence Nightingale's world, 150 years ago. Practical implications – While many hospitals have already experimented with some kind of quality program based on Deming's ideas, the call is out afresh to analyze processes and eliminate mistakes and other quality problems. Originality/value – This historical paper provides the reader with a unique perspective on Florence Nightingale's well deserved place in quality history and the relevance of her philosophies for today. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Management History Emerald Publishing

Florence Nightingale: nineteenth century apostle of quality

Brad C. Meyer; Debra S. Bishop
Journal of Management History , Volume 13 (3): 15 – Jul 3, 2007
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References (26)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
1751-1348
DOI
10.1108/17511340710754699
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – Florence Nightingale has long been known for her contributions to the nursing field, but her pioneering work in quality management has gone virtually undiscussed. This paper addresses the significant contributions of Nightingale to the field of quality management. Design/methodology/approach – The paper begins with a brief biographical background and then discusses her work during the Crimean War. Florence's approach to addressing service quality issues and her use of statistical methods are detailed. The paper then extends to her work following the Crimean War and concludes with an interesting comparative commentary relating Florence Nightingale to Dr W. Edwards Deming. Quotes from Florence's writings are interjected liberally throughout. Findings – This paper brings a new historical perspective to the field of quality management and reveals a nineteenth century apostle of quality. The current alarm regarding quality in health care practice bears more than a fleeting resemblance to Florence Nightingale's world, 150 years ago. Practical implications – While many hospitals have already experimented with some kind of quality program based on Deming's ideas, the call is out afresh to analyze processes and eliminate mistakes and other quality problems. Originality/value – This historical paper provides the reader with a unique perspective on Florence Nightingale's well deserved place in quality history and the relevance of her philosophies for today.

Journal

Journal of Management History – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jul 3, 2007

Keywords: Historical research; Health services; Quality management; Statistics

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