Eight Celebrities Who Were Once Nurses

Nurses have been regarded as tough and hard-working since Clara Barton provided care on the battlefields of the Civil War. While Barton is famous for her career as a nurse, many one-time nurses are better known for other work. For instance, the poet Walt Whitman was a volunteer nurse during the Civil War. Famed abolitionist Sojourner Truth served as a nurse during her enslavement. The profession continues to attract caregivers who have gone on to become household names.