jno
Have you actually read 'Eminent Victorians' ?
Although she was troubled by certain religious thoughts in her early life, she finally overcame them to become the 'Angel of Mercy' we have all come to know.
Here is just one passage from it.
/// In the hospitals it was her duty to provide the services of herself and her nurses when they were asked for by the doctors, and not until then. At first some of the surgeons would have nothing to say to her, and, though she was welcomed by others, the majority were hostile and suspicious. But gradually she gained ground. Her good will could not be denied, and her capacity could not be disregarded. With consummate tact, with all the gentleness of supreme strength, she managed at last to impose her personality upon the susceptible, overwrought, discouraged, and helpless group of men in authority who surrounded her. She stood firm; she was a rock in the angry ocean; with her alone was safety, comfort, life. And so it was that hope dawned at Scutari. ///
http://www.bartleby.com/189/202.html