Chief Nurse
American Red Cross - Office of the Chief Nurse, National Headquarters
Washington, DC
Sharon Stanley is the Chief Nurse of the American Red Cross. In this role, she works with over 20,000 nurse volunteers who work in various business lines and positions across the organization nationwide. She also provides health and long term direction for Red Cross and its health professionals that is consistent with the organization's national vision and goals. She was instrumental in the recent change (April 2011) in Red Cross that enables nurses to practice within their scope of practice in Disaster Services and community response, unencumbered by restrictive protocols.
Dr. Stanley's immediate past employment was as the Program Director for the Ohio Center for Public Health Preparedness, College of Public Health, The Ohio State University. In this position she co-developed and implemented a nationwide program to train public health nurses in disaster preparedness response at the population health level: the ExploreSurge Trailguide and Hiking Workshop. She was the first Chief of Disaster Planning at the Ohio Department of Health (2000 – 2005).
She has worked in the public health field for 30 years, with experience as a county Health Commissioner and faculty member in community and public health nursing at various institutions, to include Capital University (Associate Professor), Cedarville College, Wright State University, and The Ohio State University. Colonel Stanley retired from the US Army Reserves with 34 years of service, 12 of them on active duty. Her last military assignment was as Commander of the 307th Medical Group in Blacklick, Ohio, a three-state regional Brigade command. She directed the Army Reserve Leadership Campaign for the Chief and Commanding General of the United States Army Reserves while assigned to the Pentagon 2003 – 2004. She has held various senior leadership positions in the Army Reserve Medical Command, to include Commander of the 914th Combat Support Hospital and a five-state Medical Training Battalion.
Dr. Stanley's educational degrees include: Naval Postgraduate School-Center for Homeland Defense & Security: Master of Arts in Homeland Security Studies, 2008; U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania: Master of Strategic Studies, 2003; The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio: PhD in Health Education, 1989; Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio: MS in Community Health Nursing, 1983; and University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland (Walter Reed Army Institute of Nursing [WRAIN]): BSN, 1977.
She is currently a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellow in the Center for Creative Leadership and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing, a member of the 2011 cohort. Sharon has been married to Mark A. Stanley for 34 years. Their residence is maintained in Circleville, Ohio, and they are the proud parents and grandparents to three sons, two daughter-in-laws, and four grandchildren.