Sarah Elizabeth Wardroper appointment as matron at St Thomas' Hospital in January 1854. Although nursing was still largely a disreputable occupation she made St Thomas' a model of reformed, professional, nursing and in 1860, with the creation of the training school for nurses by the Nightingale Fund at the same hospital, she was appointed superintendent. Florence Nightingale selected St Thomas' Hospital as the site for her new nurse training school, largely because of Wardroper's qualities (and those of the enlightened resident medical officer, R.G. Whitfield). Nightingale, Wardroper and Whitfield worked together to establish the new school, the first secular training school for nurses
Florence Nightingale Foundation The Florence Nightingale Foundation annual conference is a developmental conference for all nurses, midwives and healthcare professionals across all aspects of healthcare delivery. The event includes masterclasses, lectures, and networking, and hosts national and international speakers. A Commemoration Service is held in May of each year to celebrate Florence Nightingale. It is an opportunity to honour Florence on her birthday, 12 May, and to celebrate International Nurses Day. Central to the service is the Lamp which was given to the Foundation by Sir Dan Mason OBE in 1968 in memory of his mother Kathleen Dampier-Bennett, a Trustee and supporter of