Japanese Red Cross Hiroshima College of Nursing is an affiliate of the Japanese Red Cross Society, an affiliate of International Red Cross. The International Red Cross was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 1864. Henri Dunant's concern for wounded soldiers in battle led to the establishment of the International Red Cross. In 1877, the Hakuaisha, or Philanthropy Society, was founded in Japan by Count Tsunetami Sano, Yuzuru Ogyu, and others. In 1887, Hakuaisha was renamed Japanese Red Cross Society.
Today the Japanese Red Cross Society has as its Honorary President Her Majesty the Empress, and oversees programs in the following areas:
The Japanese Red Cross offers nursing education at a high level of professional competence. Since 1890, more than 100,000 nurses have received training. The JRCS now runs 27 nursing schools, educating about 2,900 students annually. The first four-year Red Cross Nursing College opened in Tokyo in 1986, and today four additional four-year colleges operate in Hokkaido, Hiroshima, Fukuoka Prefecture, and from April 2004 Aichi Prefecture.
The Japanese Red Cross Hiroshima College of Nursing opened in April 2000. It enrolls a total of about 580 students annually. Most of the students come from the Chugoku area, with the largest number from Hiroshima Prefecture, but in recent years, registered students came from almost every prefecture in the country.
In addition to studying a general nursing curriculum, students also study disaster nursing, the history and principles of the Red Cross, and international humanitarian law.