Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing

History of the Faculty

Nursing education at the University of Toronto has a long history of innovation and establishing Canadian ‘firsts’. The Department of Public Health Nursing was established by the outstanding educational innovator Miss E. Kathleen Russell in 1920 as part of the Department of Public Hygiene. Founded as a visionary initiative with strong support of the Rockefeller Foundation, the department was considered an experiment in educational science to build upon the traditional hospital-focused training of nurses to include social welfare and public health education. The vision for the School was what was called at the time a ‘lighthouse project’, educating leaders in administration, education and public health for Toronto, Canada and the world. This initiative was in direct response to increased demand for public health nurses following the Spanish Influenza pandemic of 1919. These new public health nurses required preparation beyond what was available through hospital-based schools of nursing.

Miss Russell, who was considered at the time to be one of the foremost nursing educators in the world, pioneered the first nursing program in Canada to be completely university based. In 1928 the department became a unit of the School of Hygiene and in 1933 recognized as an independent School of Nursing. The 3-year school evolved into a 4-year BScN degree program in 1942. Again, it was a first in Canada. Miss Russell received a high level of international recognition for her approach to education, and the School became a key site for the education of nurses internationally, establishing the ‘Toronto model of education’ around the world.

As the education and practice of nurses continued to evolve, the School responded by developing a master’s program in 1970. This led to Faculty status in 1972 and the PhD program followed in 1991. In 2001 the faculty again led the country in the establishment of a major new role for nurses through its Master of Nursing Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program. This innovative on-line master’s opened the door to a range of practice roles for advanced practice nurses across the Province and beyond.

Responding to strong demand from highly qualified applicants for the Bachelor of Nursing Science the Faculty initiated a ground-breaking 2-year Second Entry (or accelerated) Bachelor of Nursing Science for suitably qualified applicants, phasing out its 4 year undergraduate degree. This highly successful approach to nursing education has since been adopted across the country.

Over the 1980s and 1990s the faculty rapidly built its outstanding reputation as a research powerhouse. With its world leading researchers and scholars in health services and administration research; clinical trials and care evaluation; and ethics, qualitative research and critical inquiry, the faculty continues to shape the discipline, nursing practice and policy, and to train the next generation of teachers, researchers and leaders though its dynamic and highly successful PhD program.

In 2007, the Faculty received a historic donation from financier and philanthropist Lawrence Bloomberg. In recognition of the largest donation to ever received by a Canadian nursing school or faculty, we again made history to become the first named faculty of nursing in the country in honour of this visionary gift.

As the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, we continue to trail blaze in education and research, supporting the next generation of nurses to achieve excellence and innovation through research and scholarship, and leading nursing and nurses to improve patient care and support improvements in the health and well being of all.