About the museum

Florence Nightingale helped to set up the Nightingale Training School at St Thomas’s Hospital in 1860. Following the first intake of 15 ‘probationer’ trainee nurses, the school improved and expanded over the following decades, spreading Nightingale’s ideas of nurse training across the world. The school was overseen by the Matrons of St Thomas’s Hospital.

During her time as Matron of St Thomas’s, Dame Alicia Lloyd Still started to collect objects that had belonged to Nightingale or that Nightingale had gifted to some of the nurses who had trained at the Nightingale Training School.

The objects that Lloyd Still collected were held at the Nightingale Training School and came to be known as the ‘Nightingalia’. The objects were used by the probationer nurses as a teaching tool and occasionally they would be used for exhibitions, or to mark key anniversaries and events.

The collection transferred to the newly created Florence Nightingale Museum Trust in 1983, who then opened the museum on the site of the Training School in 1989.

Since then the museum has continued to grow and has welcomed thousands of visitors from around the world, sharing Nightingales legacy, celebrating Nursing and inspiring the next generation of nurses.

The Florence Nightingale Museum is open Tuesday – Sunday, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm (last entry 4:30 pm). To find out more about admissions and visiting us, see our Visit Us page and for our upcoming events and exhibitions, see What’s On.

Our Mission: To celebrate Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, and all who have built upon her pioneering vision, by advancing her legacy nationally and internationally.

Our Values: To uphold the spirit of Nightingale, by embracing hard work and creativity, stimulating new thinking, and caring and respecting everyone.

Our Vision: Promoting Nightingale’s contribution as a healthcare worker, statistician, activist, social reformer, and iconic influencer. Guardianship of a small but significant collection of artefacts, which support our sharing of stories to promote developments within healthcare and science. Engaging diverse audiences from a welcoming and forward-thinking visitor attraction and research venue – our hub for physical and virtual experiences and dialogue. Encouraging ongoing positive innovation and debate on issues that matter today; informing all our futures for a better world.

The Florence Nightingale Museum Trust is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 9 December 1987 and registered as a charity on 22 December 1982.

Company number: 2246583
Charity number: 299576

Registered office and operational address:
The Florence Nightingale Museum Trust,
Gassiot House,
2 Lambeth Palace Road,
London, SE1 7EP