CON celebrates 125 years
It
all began more than a century ago when city council approved a request
from the City Hospital assuring it funds to create a training facility
for nurses. The school opened a year later in 1883 and the first
students enrolled in 1884. 
Dr. Deborah
Williamson cuts the cake commemorating 125 years of education and
research at the College of Nursing. Charleston Mayor Joe Riley gave the
proclamation at the Jan. 7 event. The “Training School for Nurses” morphed into a two-year program with additional instruction by Medical College faculty. Roper Hospital assumed control of the program in the early 1900s until its integration with the Medical College in 1919 as a three-year diploma program. In 1966, the School of Nursing of the Medical College of South Carolina added a fourth year to its curriculum establishing a baccalaureate program. A Master of Science in nursing was launched the next decade followed by a Doctor of Philosophy in nursing program in 2001.
Dr. Marilyn
Schaffner, center, presents a Medical University Hospital Authority
Patron Scholarship to nursing student Aaryn Markham. Markham received a
$25,000 scholarship. Another scholarship will be granted this fall. On
the right is College of Nursing Dean Dr. Gail Stuart.“The College of Nursing is delighted to be celebrating 125 years of educating nurses who have become leaders in our state and across the country,” said Dean Gail Stuart, Ph.D., R.N. “We have a proud tradition of excellence that has seen our college develop from a small cohort of students and faculty to a school with a growing reputation for educational innovation and community outreach.
“Our history is one of the jewels of the college, and we take pride in preserving and archiving our rich past and exploring ways in which it can help propel us into a dynamic future,” said Stuart. “So throughout the course of 2008, we will be looking back and looking forward—all in recognition of the contribution nurses make to health care.”
Friday, Jan. 11, 2008
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