Florence Nightingale was a pioneering English nurse, statistician, and social reformer. She is best known for her work during the Crimean War, where she and a team of nurses greatly improved the unsanitary conditions at a British base hospital, reducing the mortality rate significantly. Nightingale's efforts and writings laid the foundation for modern nursing practices and she is often considered the founder of modern nursing. She also made significant contributions to the field of statistics and public health, and her work continues to have a lasting impact on healthcare and nursing education.