The Columbia University School of Nursing is the graduate school of nursing at Columbia University in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1892, it stands as one of the oldest nursing schools in the United States.
The School of Nursing was the first nursing school to award a master's degree in a clinical specialty. In 1892, the School of Nursing was founded as the Presbyterian Hospital Training School for Nurses, with Anna C. Maxwell serving as its first dean. The early curriculum at the school, taught mostly by physicians, included such varied subjects as hygiene of the sickroom, bacteriology, anatomy, bandaging, symptomatology, surgical diseases, obstetrics and gynecology, contagious diseases, nervous cases, Swedish massage, and cooking for the homebound. On May 15, 1894, 21 students, all females, became members of the first graduating class. Maxwell Hall opened within the new Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in 1928. In 1937, the nursing school formally became affiliated with Columbia University. The first Bachelor of Science degrees were awarded to students in 1940.
In 1955, the School of Nursing was the first U.S. nursing school to establish a graduate university-based midwifery program. In 1956, the School of Nursing became the first in the country to award a master's degree in a clinical nursing specialty. The emphasis on clinical scholarship is considered appropriate due to collaboration of the School of Nursing with other professional schools at Columbia. In 1984, the school's new home became the Georgian Building. In 2017, the nursing school moved into a new 68,000-square-foot building designed by the architectural firms of FXFOWLE in New York and CO Architects in Los Angeles. The School of Nursing shares the Columbia University Medical Center campus with the School of Public Health, the School of Dental and Oral Surgery, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons. The ACNP program was reconfigured to incorporate both theoretical and practical skills to foster an approach to clinical care geared toward older adults and persons with disabilities. The 68,000-square-foot glass structure was designed by CO|FXFOWLE, a joint venture of two award-winning architecture firms. The building includes the Helene Fuld Health Trust Simulation Center to help students learn complex clinical techniques and includes a mock in-patient room, exam room, critical care unit, an operation room, and three teaching skill labs.