Nursing History Digitization Project - Nursing Schools in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia has had a number of training schools for nurses since the first was established in 1890 at the Victoria General Hospital in Halifax. Many of the training schools have long since closed, but they have all played an important part, at one time or another, in training many Nova Scotia nurses and will always have an important part in understanding the history of nursing education in Nova Scotia. Below is a list of all of the nursing schools which have existed in Nova Scotia over the years.

In these pages, you will find school and nursing program histories, along with photographs, correspondence, memorandums, poems, program outlines, reports, rules, and sketches, which help to illustrate the school's development and impact on nursing education in Nova Scotia. This is currently an ongoing research project, so please check back periodically for updates.

In the last few months, we have been able to provide histories for the Aberdeen Hospital School of Nursing, the Grace Maternity Hospital nursing programs, the Children's Hospital, as well as the Nova Scotia Hospital School of Nursing. We have also recently included oral histories from former nursing school students across Nova Scotia, who studied between the years 1920-1965.

As our research into these schools and their nursing programs continues, we would appreciate any feedback or suggestions you may have for us. Also, if you have any information to share, we would like to hear from you, so please contact archives@msvu.ca with your comments.

Explore and enjoy!

Hospital Based Nursing Schools			Opened	Closed
Aberdeen Hospital, New Glasgow			1897	1995
All Saints Hospital, Springhill			1893	1947
Cape Breton Regional Hospital, Sydney			1991	1995
	Sydney City Hospital		1916	1991
	Sydney Community Health Centre		1988	1991
		St. Rita Hospital	1929	1988
		Ross Memorial Hospital	1924	1929
Children's Hospital, Halifax			1916	1971
Glace Bay General Hospital, Glace Bay			1917	1970
Grace Maternity Hospital, Halifax			1951	1964
Halifax Infirmary, Halifax			1908	1994
Highland View Regional Hospital, Amherst			1928	1960
Kings Memorial Hospital Training School for Nurses, Berwick			1924	1934
New Waterford General Hospital, New Waterford			1924	1956
Nova Scotia Hospital, Dartmouth			1892	1970
Payzant Memorial Hospital, Windsor			1905	1971
St. Elizabeth Hospital, North Sydney			1954	1969
	Hamilton Memorial Hospital		1914	1954
St. Joseph's Hospital, Glace Bay			1905	1970
St. Martha's Hospital, Antigonish			1911	1995
Victoria General Hospital, Halifax			1890	1995
Yarmouth Hospital, Yarmouth			1913	1995

University Based Nursing Schools
Dalhousie University School of Nursing, Halifax			1949
Mount Saint Vincent University School of Nursing, Halifax			1932	1979
St. Francis Xavier University, Department of Nursing, Antigonish			1926

* Source: College of Registered Nurses of Nova Scotia

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