During the Crimean War, she and a team of nurses improved the unsanitary conditions at a British base hospital, greatly reducing the death count.
In 1854, the Crimean War broke out – a war with Britain, France and Turkey on one side, and Russia on the the other. British troops went off to fight in the Crimean- an area in the south of Russia, now part of Ukraine. News soon reached home of soldiers dying from battle wounds, cold, hunger and sickness, with no real medical care or nurses to treat them. Help was needed fast, and the Minister for War – called Sidney Herbert – knew just the person… He asked Florence to lead a team of nurses to the Crimean!