Nursing in India type of nursing. In 1664 the East India Company started a hospital for soldiers in a house at Fort St.George, Madras. The first sisters were sent from St Thomas' Hospital, London to this military hospital. In 1797 a Lying-in-Hospital (maternity) for the poor of Madras was built with the help of subscriptions by John Underwood. In 1854 the government sanctioned a training school for midwives in Madras. Florence Nightingale was the first woman to have great influence over nursing in India and had a close knowledge of Indian conditions, especially in the army. She was interested in the nursing service
Florence Nightingale Medal spirit in the areas of public health or nursing education". It was initially set up to be awarded to six nurses annually, although the first 42 awards were only made in 1920 due to the disruption of the First World War. The medal was restricted to female nurses until regulation changes in 1991. Under the new regulations it is open to both women and men, and is awarded every two years to a maximum number of fifty recipients worldwide. The vesica piscis-shaped medal is composed of gold and silver-gilt and bears a portrait of Florence Nightingale surrounded by the words