Mark Bostridge at the erection of a statue to Mary Seacole at St Thomas' Hospital in London. In interviews Bostridge explained that he was not opposed to a statue to Seacole but to the siting of it at the hospital where Florence Nightingale founded her nurse training school in 1860, influencing the development of nursing throughout the world. Bostridge argues that Seacole was not a "pioneer nurse" as some of the statue campaigners maintain. He also points to the way in which Nightingale's enormous contributions to public health are now commonly and mistakenly attributed to Seacole by a wide range of British
UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing with Florence Nightingale three years prior. The school was the first nursing school in Western Pennsylvania. In 1942 the school was renamed to Shadyside School of Nursing, four years after the hospital changed its name to Shadyside Hospital. In December 2009, the UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing received an endowment of $900,000, the largest donation in the school's history, from 1939 alumnae Jane Pesci. The UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing offers a diploma in nursing. The school has a 18-month, full-time daylight program and 3-year, part-time evening/weekend program. The school is accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission