History
Formal nursing education in the LSU
System began in the summer of 1929 on the Baton Rouge campus. The Louisiana
State League of Nursing Education requested specific courses as additional
education for registered nurses. The Daughters of Charity at Charity
Hospital of New Orleans recognized the need for specialized professional
education for nurses holding responsible positions in hospitals and
schools of nursing education and suggested the LSU courses become a
permanent program to prepare registered nurses for positions in teaching,
supervision, and administration. The new program was inaugurated with
courses being taught at Charity Hospital in 1931. Between 1931 and 1938,
there were individual courses available including supervision in nursing,
ward management, ward instruction and several general education courses.
Beginning with the 1938 school year, a formally recognized nursing curriculum
was initiated for registered nurses.
In 1933, a program leading to the
degree of Bachelor of Science in Nursing
Education was approved by the LSU System.
The newly established Department of
Nursing graduated three students in
the first class. During the first years
of its existence, the Department functioned,
except for a brief period, under the
General Extension Division, as a department
of the Teachers' College of LSU, Baton
Rouge. Students were admitted to this
program on the basis of having completed
a diploma program in nursing and credit
was allowed on basic nursing course
work. Students graduating from this
program were granted the Bachelor of
Science in Nursing Education degree,
which was awarded at ceremonies on
the Baton Rouge Campus.
In 1937, the Department
was transferred to the School of Medicine
in New Orleans.
The "combined program'' or "five
year program'' was instituted. This
program consisted of two years of college
work in advance of the three years
in the regular diploma program of the
Charity Hospital, New Orleans School
of Nursing. Admissions to this program
were discontinued in June 1952.
Until May 1, 1949, Sister Henrietta
Guyot, Head of the Department of Nursing
was not only in charge of the Department
but was also Head of the Charity School
of Nursing and of the Nursing Service
Department of Charity Hospital. Sister
Henrietta was relieved of responsibility
for nursing service at Charity Hospital
on May 1, 1949, and for the Charity
Hospital School of Nursing on July
1, 1951. This allowed her to devote
full attention to administration of
the Nursing Program at LSU until February
1965 when she retired from the Department.
With the goal of expanding its program
to meet regional and state nursing
needs, in 1952, the Department of Nursing
invited a survey team of six consultants
to evaluate the resources available
to establish a School of Nursing at
the School of Medicine in New Orleans,
and to draw up a plan of reorganization.
The proposals growing out of this survey
formed a blueprint for the development
of a new baccalaureate curriculum in
nursing which was inaugurated by the
LSU System in 1955. Two programs of
study were established.
- A four year basic nursing program
preparing high school graduates for
professional nursing practice, and
- A program of five semesters
designed to supplement and enrich
the preparation
of graduate registered nurses for
the practice of professional
nursing (referred
to as the Specialized Registered
Nursing Program).
Both of these programs
led to the Bachelor
of Science in Nursing degree. The
earlier program for registered nurses,
the
Bachelor of Science in Nursing Education,
which included majors preparing for
teaching and supervision, was discontinued
in 1958. The Louisiana State Board of Nurse
Examiners accorded initial accreditation
to the Program in Basic Nursing on
September 16, 1955, and full approval
on April 24, 1959. The Department of
Nursing has held agency membership
in the National League for Nursing,
Department of Baccalaureate and Higher
Degree Programs, since 1955.
Following a self-study report submitted
by the faculty in September 1961, the
first visit for national accreditation
purposes was held in Spring 1962. As
a result of this survey visit and report,
the Department of Nursing received
full initial accreditation of its basic
program by the National League for
Nursing on May 5, 1962. Since that
time, the Bachelor of Science in Nursing
Degree Program maintained full accreditation
status with the National League for
Nursing until 1998 when the program
was accredited for 10 years by the
Council on Collegiate Nursing Education.
The next site visit for accreditation
will occur in 2009.
In 1964, the Department of Nursing
announced that as of June 1967, the
separate program of study for registered
nurses would be discontinued. The Department
would continue the curriculum leading
to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing
degree. In addition to the basic students,
registered nurses were admitted with
a limited amount of advance standing
credit granted on the basis of specific
course examinations. The decision to
make this change was based on recommendations
from the National League for Nursing
and was in line with improved educational
practices in nursing.
On March 13, 1968, the Department
of Nursing was relocated from the
first
floor of the School of Medicine Building
on Tulane Avenue into two newly renovated
buildings on Florida Avenue. These
buildings were former World War II
Navy barracks, which, after renovation,
provided adequate office and classroom
space for the existing program.
The Department of Nursing of the
Medical School was accorded status
as a separate
and autonomous School by action
of the Board of Supervisors in
December
1968 and the official name became
the School of Nursing of the Medical
Center. The Master of Nursing degree offering
was approved March 23, 1972 by the
Louisiana Coordinating Council for
Higher Education and the first students
were enrolled in the fall of 1972.
The first Master of Nursing degrees
were conferred in May 1975. The Master
of Nursing degree program was granted
initial accreditation by the National
League for Nursing on December 9, 1977
and was continuously accredited by
that agency until 1999. On March 24,
1998, the Master of Nursing program
was accredited by the Council on Collegiate
Nursing Education for a period of 10
years, with the next review due in
2009.
The Associate of Science in Nursing
degree program was approved by the
LSU Board of Supervisors on February
5, 1973, and the Louisiana Coordinating
Council for Higher Education in March
1973.
The Louisiana State Board of Nurse
Examiners granted approval August 1,
1973 and the first Associate of Science
in Nursing degrees were awarded in
August 1975. After 25 years, the Associate
of Science in Nursing program graduated
the last class in May 2000. The Program
was continuously accredited by the
National League of Nursing.
The Continuing Education Program began
in January 1975 with the appointment
of a Regional Coordinator for Continuing
Education. This position was made available
through a contractual agreement with
the Louisiana State Nurses Association,
and funded from a United States Department
of Health, Education, and Welfare Special
Project Grant. In 1978, funding from
the Grant terminated and the program
continued on State funds until 1986
when the program became self-supporting
through self-generated income. The
Continuing Education Program has been
accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing
Center as a provider of continuing
education for the awarding of contact
hours since July 1980.
On November 13, 1978, The University
System purchased a six-story building,
located at 420 South Prieur Street
in New Orleans, to be used by the School.
The structure, containing approximately
60,000 square feet of floor space,
was completed in 1941 by Hotel Dieu
Hospital and has been used for the
Hotel Dieu diploma Nursing Program
until the program closed in 1975. Over
a period of years, The University System
leased parts of this facility for the
Associate of Science in Nursing Degree
program (1972), for the Graduate Degree
program (1973), for the School's administrative
offices (1977).
After minimal renovation, the Bachelor
of Science in Nursing program moved
into the fifth and sixth floors of
the building, June 11, 1979. Renovations
to accommodate the Multimedia Center
were more extensive, requiring almost
a year to complete. On April 1, 1980,
the Center moved from temporary quarters
at 1100 Florida Avenue, into the newly
renovated first floor of the building.
This event marked the first time in
eight years the School was located
in one facility.
In December 1984, the School of Nursing
and the School of Allied Health Professions
moved into a new building, located
at 1900 Gravier Street. This building
is connected at the third floor to
the Medical Education Building, which
opened in 1981. The Doctor of Nursing
Science degree offering was approved
June 27, 1985
by the State of Louisiana, Board of
Regents. The first students were enrolled
in Fall 1985 and the first Doctor of
Nursing Science degree was conferred
in December 1988.
A reorganization of the structure
of the School of Nursing into departments
was implemented in March 1999. Faculty
and courses are assigned to one of
three departments – Adult Nursing,
Family Nursing and Mental / Community
Health Nursing.
On December 7, 2001, the Louisiana
Board of Regents granted approval to
initiate the curriculum leading to
the Master of Nursing with a specialization
in Nurse Anesthesia. Students began
specialization coursework in January
2002 with the first graduates in 2005.
In 2005, after hurricane Katrina,
LSUHSC-NO relocated to the LSU Systems
office and then Pennington Biomedical
Research Center in Baton Rouge. Within
a month, the required Louisiana State
Board of Nursing approvals were acquired
so that students were able to complete
their course work at new clinical locations.
Graduate classes returned to New Orleans
in January 2006 and undergraduate classes
in the summer of 2006.
Master’s courses in nursing education
were approved by the Board of Supervisors
in January 2008. The Master’s in Nursing
Education track has been submitted
to the Board of Regents and approval
anticipated the summer of 2008 after
which the first students are expected
to begin coursework. A letter of intent
to offer the Doctor of Nursing Practice
degree at LSUHSC SON was approved in
April 2008 by the LSU Board of Supervisors.
|
Back