Princess Alexandra attends a Service to commemorate the life of Florence Nightingale

Princess Alexandra attended a service of commemoration for the Life of Florence Nightingale in Westminster Abbey.

The annual service is held to celebrate nursing and midwifery and all staff, both qualified and unqualified, working in these services and was conducted by the Dean of Westminster.

The service included the Procession of the Roll of Honour, borne in silence, which was carried by Corporal Zoe Wark RN(A) PMRAFNS (RAF), escorted by the three Matrons-in-Chief of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces whilst the Florence Nightingale Lamp was carried through the Abbey by Joanna Poole, Florence Nightingale Foundation Scholar, and escorted by student nurses and midwives from the University of Plymouth.

In his Bidding, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall said:

 

We come into the presence of almighty God to offer our worship, praise, and thanksgiving. In particular, we thank God for Florence Nightingale: for her enterprise and heroism, and for the example she has left us. We pray that her ideals of compassion, quality of care, and training may continue to inspire and sustain nurses everywhere. We praise God for all those nurses who, like her, have carried the lamp of healing into the dark places of our world.

Princess Alexandra is the Patron of the Florence Nightingale Foundation which awards  Scholarships to advance the study of nursing and to promote excellence in practice.