Nightingale insisted that there be fresh air and water for all the soldiers, that recuperating soldiers receive healthy food to eat to help make them better.
She often contemplated the physical and psychological effects of disability in her work; painting herself in agony, recuperating from operations, or including objects such as her back brace and wheelchair.
A series of studies has indicated that some severely malnourished children recuperate slowly, if at all, because their gut microbes remain in an immature state.