News : HSC Nurses Honoured to Lead Lamp Procession
9 May 2007
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Celebrating Florence Nightingale's Life This year’s procession on Wednesday, 9 May, was led by 24 HSC nursing students. |
For the first time ever, student nurses from Bournemouth University featured prominently in the service to celebrate the life of Florence Nightingale. This year’s procession on Wednesday, 9 May, was led by 24 HSC nursing students. Florence Nightingale is considered the founder of modern nursing and known the world over as the ‘Lady with the Lamp’. Her birthday is celebrated every year with a procession in London’s Westminster Abbey.
Dr Gail Thomas, Dean of the University’s The School of Health & Social Care, and Di Haliwell, Academic Head of Acute and Continuing Care Nursing, also took part as the lamp was taken from the Nurse’s Chapel in the Abbey and handed, in succession, from one nurse to another. This part of the ceremony signified the passing of knowledge from one to another and concluded when the lamp was placed in the High Altar of the Abbey.
This was the first time that Bournemouth students had the honour of leading the lamp procession. It could be the University’s only opportunity for many years to come as there are approximately 80 schools of nursing in the UK and the invitation to take part is offered to each on a rotational basis so it is unlikely that Bournemouth will be asked again for some time to come.
The service in London was attended by some 2,000 people from around the world including leading politicians and prominent healthcare professionals. The Chelsea Pensioners also attended the Service in recognition of the tremendous work undertaken by Florence Nightingale in reforming the armed forces during her lifetime.
The Westminster Abbey service is organised each year by the Florence Nightingale Foundation on a date close to her birthday which is May 12th. At the Westminster Abbey Service there was also a procession of the Nurses' Roll of Honour in remembrance of those Nurses who gave their lives in the Second World War while caring for the sick and wounded and whose names are recorded in the Nurses' Chapel.
