Final answer:
The primary responsibility of a nurse employed by the Marine Hospital Service would have been providing health care for merchant seamen, dressing wounds, assisting in operations, and aiding in patients' recovery.
Step-by-step explanation:
If a nurse was employed by the Marine Hospital Service (MHS), the most likely responsibility of the nurse would have been providing health care for merchant seamen. The Marine Hospital Service was established specifically to offer medical care to these individuals. Nurses played a crucial role in patient care, dressing and disinfecting wounds, assisting in operations, and helping with patients' recovery. While they also risked their lives in various capacities, such as aboard hospital ships during war times, their primary duty within the MHS would have centered on medical treatment and care for merchant seamen.
Nurses in this service would have been integral to the day-to-day running of the hospitals, responding to the health needs of seamen who were part of the nation's economic backbone during the time. Their work would have laid the groundwork for practices in the current health care sector, providing care amidst challenging conditions and contributing to higher survival rates among their patients.
It is also important to note that as MHS evolved, the involvement of nurses also included handling inspections and preventive measures against infectious diseases, which was a foundational step towards developing modern-day public health practices.