***Make a Comment***Clara Barton’s nursing and humanitarian work during the war

***Make a Comment***Clara Barton’s nursing and humanitarian work during the war was integral to her founding of the American Red Cross. This was a pivotal moment in the history of public health nursing because it brought to light the ability of nurses to impact a population of individuals during a critical time, war. It also introduced the role of volunteer work in supporting better health for communities and the public at large, and paved the way for nurse’s involvement and coordination in that work.The American Red Cross remains an important public health service, and is responsible to the federal government for a number of programs including serving American armed forces, disaster relief, and other key public health services including blood drives, cardiopulmonary resuscitation certification training, and swimming classes. The American Red Cross supplies 40% of our country’s blood products supplied through public donation, and trains and employs thousands of volunteers, nurses and other professionals each year to carry out its mission to prevent and alleviate human suffering during emergencies (The American National Red Cross, 2021). This important and well-known public service all started over 100 years ago when Clara Barton decided to provide direct care to soldiers during wartime.