´óÏó´«Ã½

The Nightingale Badge was awarded to nurses like my mum, who qualified from the Nightingale School at St Thomas' Hospital, the first School of Nursing in England. Florence Nightingale started the school in 1860. She was inspired by her experience of nursing the wounded during the Crimean War, when soldiers died in horrific conditions. Dame Alice Lloyd Still designed the badge in 1925. It's shaped in an eight-point cross. The four arms of the cross symbolise the Cardinal Virtues of Prudence, Temperance, Justice and Fortitude. In the middle is a picture of Florence and the words 'Schola Sancti Thomae'. The badge is returned to the Nightingale Fellowship on the owner's death so that it won't fall into the wrong hands. The badge does honour to Florence Nightingale and commemorates her work. Her nurses have gone on to work in communities throughout the globe - taking their Nightingale badge with them!