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Who Is Clara Barton A Leader

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Clara Barton’s Influences as a Prominent Nurse Leader
Sara Kibbey
Cleveland State University

Abstract
Clara Barton is a prominent nurse leader. She provided care and supplies for troops in the Civil War and had the government pass a treaty to equally protect people internationally during wartime crises. Barton’s most widely known accomplishment was forming the American Red Cross. The organization implements her ideals of providing equal care during natural disasters and wartime crises. Barton is a prime example of a nurse due to her passion for caring and willingness to become available for those in need. Never satisfied with the bare minimum, she spent her life devoted to the care and protection of those in distress.

Clara Barton’s Influences …show more content…

She commonly wrote home to families that reported their men missing. The number of letters she was writing continued to increase towards the end of the war and she realized another human need that she could fulfill. She established the Office of Correspondence with Friends of the Missing Men of the United States Army in order to structurally uncover missing men from the troops and to inform their families. Barton was given rooms in Washington, D.C. to operate out of with her volunteers. President Abraham Lincoln wrote: “To the Friends of Missing Persons: Miss Clara Barton has kindly offered to search for the missing prisoners of war. Please address her . . . giving her the name, regiment, and company of any missing prisoner” (The American Red Cross). She went on to run this operation for four years and in total answered over 63,000 letters and identified over 22,000 missing men. Barton played another honorable role in the Civil War when she helped a team of military men identify the graves of around13,000 men who had died in the notorious Andersonville Prison in Georgia and established a national cemetery around them (The American Red Cross). She personally helped raise the United Sates flag over the grounds in 1865 during the official dedication. A defining aspect of Clara Barton’s life that led her to accomplish numerous acts of pure kindness was her inability to remain satisfied when she knew there was more that could be done. She continued to perform various volunteer jobs but decided to vacation to Europe in 1869 for personal time. Instead of rest, she found new, improved ways to make a difference in people’s lives. Barton was exposed to the Red Cross that was in place in Switzerland and was very interested in the work that they did. She became educated about Henry Dunant, the Red Cross founder and his mission for the

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