Barbie® recognizes all female role models. The Inspiring Womenâ„¢ Series pays tribute to incredible heroines of their time; courageous women who took risks, changed rules, and paved the way for generations of girls to dream bigger than ever before. Florence Nightingale pursued a career in nursing, a vocation she believed was her moral duty. Enrolling as a nursing student in 1850, Florence made it her mission to improve hospital efficiency and standards in patient care. Carrying a lamp during her rounds in the Crimea War, Florence earned the title of “The Lady with the Lamp”, providing comfort and compassion to gravely wounded soldiers. Eventually bedridden with a chronic illness, Nightingale refused to give up and used her training as a statistician to write books that launched reforms in healthcare. In 1860, she established the Nightingale Training School, continuing to further nursing education while changing the negative attitudes towards women entering the field. Throughout  her life, Florence Nightingale continued to use her drive and intelligence to become a pioneer of modern nursing. Girls need more role models like Florence Nightingale because imagining they can be anything is just the beginning. Actually seeing that they can makes all the difference.

The Nightingale doll comes wearing a gray, floor length, waist-ed, full 1850’s nurse uniform dress. The long sleeves have a sewn on black ribbon trim just above the cuff (matches the necklace). The cuffs and collar are white lace and underneath is a sewn in tulle knee length slip to keep the skirt of the dress full (much better than the molded plastic wrap under other Mattel doll dresses).   The dress has a Velcro closure in the back and is removable when the necklace is removed. Around the neck is a black ribbon necklace with a plastic silver charm tacked to the cross over point and tacked to the front of the dress (this would have to be cut to take the dress completely off the doll).  A white sash with printed red trim and ‘Scutari Hospital’ printed on the front goes from the doll’s right shoulder down to below the left waist.  The end of the sash is tacked to the top of the apron.  The long cotton apron has a white satin ribbon ties that tie in the back with a half bow.   The sash and apron ship off attached to each other without cutting the tack stitch. On the Florence Nightingale celebrity doll head is a white, lace trimmed, nurse’s bonnet with an white elastic loop that secures the hat under the back of the hair.  The blunt cut style, rooted,o o l brown hair is loaded with product to make it stiff.  The two large curls that are frame the face below the ears are tied in place with brown thread to keep them in place.  The eyes are painted gray to match her dress and the closed lips are painted a natural pink. On the feet are black plastic shin high, heeled old-fashioned boots (Same as Susan B Anthony and Eleanor Roosevelt Inspiring Women Series dolls) with slits on the back for easy removal. The doll is articulated at the neck (35 degrees up and down and twists), shoulders (ball joints), elbows (bend almost to 90 degrees), wrists (twist and bend to degrees in any direction), hips (back and forward motion only), and knees (90 degrees).  The doll has regular high-heeled Barbie feet. It also has the molded Barbie underwear and cardboard knee braces to keep the knees straight for display purposes). A 1/6 scale hard plastic brown and yellow-white cylinder lamp is included as an accessory so the doll can truly be the “The Lady with the Lamp”. The doll comes with an Official Mattel Certificate of Authenticity and the standard hard plastic base with clear post doll stand. To get the current prices of the Florence Nightingale Barbie doll use these links.  The museum gets a small commission for qualified purchase using the following links.