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CON and Predecessor School History

The heritage of the College of Nursing dates back to 1885, when the college’s first antecedent, the St. Luke’s Hospital Training School of Nursing, opened to offer diploma education to nurses. In 1903, the Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing accepted its first students. From 1956 to 1968, nurses were taught at the merged Presbyterian-St. Luke’s School of Nursing. Before the establishment of the Rush University College of Nursing in 1972, more than 7,000 nurses had graduated from these schools. Today, more than 5,500 baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral students have graduated from Rush College of Nursing.

To learn about nursing education at Rush's predecessor schools in the early 20th century, download the brief presentation "The Art of Nursing: Nursing Education at Rush's Predecessor Schools, 1900-1920."

History of Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's College of Nursing


1837

Rush College of Medicine founded


1864

St. Luke's Hospital founded


1884

St. Luke's Hospital founded


1885


St. Luke's Training School established


 1903


Presbyterian Hostipal School of Nursing Established 


1957


Presbyterian-St. Luke's Hospital School of Nursing opens


1972

Rush College of Nursing Established



Dr.Luther Christman is appointed Dean

1985

Kathleen Andreoli is appointed Dean


2005


Melanie Dreher is appointed Dean



Rush University Medical Center Archives contains an extensive collection of uniforms, documents and various artifacts from all four schools of nursing. For more information about visiting Rush's archives or submitting an artifact for the archives' collection, visit the Rush University Medical Center Archives Web site.