Abstract
Although Florence Nightingale is more famous, Edith Cavell stands out as a nurse who made significant contributions to the nursing profession. She established the first nursing school in Brussels, Belgium. To accomplish this Cavell had to speak fluent French, overcome the disdain of the Catholic Church for replacing their untrained nuns with trained nurses, and establish the importance of her place as a woman in the medical profession. When Belgium was occupied by the German military in World War I, Cavell made a life-or-death decision to defy German laws by joining the Belgian Resistance movement and rescuing Allied soldiers. This article will offer background about Cavell, including Florence Nightingale’s influence on her career. The article presents the significant legacy of this British nurse, and the contributions she made to the nursing profession in her early career and during World War I, the Great War. Her story illustrates both the exemplary nursing leadership and the struggle many nurses experienced when faced with ethical dilemmas in practice. Cavell was a relatively unknown nurse who changed medical and military history. The conclusion considers Cavell’s relevance to nurses of today.
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