Using health statistics: a Nightingale legacy

No more forceful example of the value of using health statistics to understand and improve health conditions exists than displayed by Florence Nightingale. The recent book by Dossey (1999), Florence Nightingale: Mystic, Visionary, Healer, relates the dramatic tale of Nightingale s use of statistics to understand the causes of deaths in the Crimean War and of her advocacy to standardize the collection of medical data within the army and in civilian hospitals. For her, the use of health statistics was a major tool to improve health and influence public opinion.