In any society nurses hold a very important position. Nursing as a profession is respected a lot due to its very nature of being in touch with humanity. The role of a nurse is that of compassion. In the long history of mankind there have been dedicated, selfless nurses who have transformed many lives positively. Listed below are 5 nurses who have greatly influenced the world.

Florence Nightingale was a 19th century British nurse who changed the lives of many people. She was a courageous nurse and withstood harsh weather conditions in service to the British Army soldiers during wars. She dedicated her life to reducing their deaths and succeeded. Moreover, she believed in cleanliness and proper hygiene to all people as an effective way of reducing illnesses. Amazingly, nurse Florence was also a statistician; she produced numerous substantial findings that highlighted the living conditions of her patient. Without doubt, nurse Florence Nightingale will everlastingly be remembered for her dedication to eliminating suffering to mankind.

Clarissa Barton was a great nurse who is accredited with founding the American Red Cross. She started her work in Washington DC providing food and supplies to hundreds of union soldiers who had been brutally attacked by secession supporters. Her generous gestures gave birth to a new service era. Nurse Barton shall forever be remembered for her service, to the wounded soldiers, that later led to Red Cross formation. Surprisingly she had never been trained in nursing.

Walt Whitman, Nurse Walt is the most famous man nurse in history. He devoted his life to volunteer work for many years. When his brother was wounded in the civil war he became a volunteer nurse and wrote many poems. He is the author of Leaves of Grass

Dorothea Dix was a great nurse who was sixty years when the civil war broke out. Prior to that he had devoted his life to changing various asylums with insane people. He was very assertive and got appointed as the head of nursing staff during the civil war. It is at this time that he made pleas for volunteers. He changed the world by fighting for nurses rights, provided a home for them and enabled them reside in hospitals which were close to them. He also introduced policies for mental hospitals that ensured their fair treatment.

Louisa Sally Tompkins, she convinced a judge to vacate his mansion in Virginia for the sake of casualties whose homes had had been flooded. The judge accepted and Sally Tompkins turned the home in to a private hospital. He took care of different patients there and emphasized the need for cleanliness especially with the surgical equipments. Over time she was able to save many lives. She will always be remembered for her selfless service to the community.  Her private hospital lasted for 45 months and out of the many seriously wounded soldiers who were sent to her, only 73 lost their lives. She continues to inspire selfless sacrifices to other people