Rutgers School of Nursing
As one of the
nation's largest, most comprehensive nursing schools, Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey, School of Nursing is dedicated to the pursuit of
excellence in education, research, evidence-based health care delivery, and
promotion of community health. Rutgers School of Nursing's doctor of nursing practice (D.N.P.) program was ranked in the Top 20 nationally, and the master of science in nursing (M.S.N.) program
was ranked #21 in the nation by the U.S. News & World Report.
The school
includes more than 1,800 undergraduate and graduate students, more than 12,000
alumni, over 100 full-time faculty, and 120 staff members at campus locations
in Blackwood, Newark, and New Brunswick. The School has strong distance education offerings that include full
online degrees and hybrid programs.
Rutgers
School of Nursing, as we know it today, was formed as the result of the 2014
integration of Rutgers University's College of Nursing and the former
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey's (UMDNJ) School of Nursing.
Merger of the College of Nursing and School of Nursing
On June 28,
2012, the New Jersey state legislature passed a bill that dissolved UMDNJ and
merged most of its schools with Rutgers University, effective July 1, 2013. As
a result of the merger, in 2013 there were three nursing programs within Rutgers
University operating in four geographic locations (Newark, New Brunswick,
Camden, and Stratford). University and
nursing leadership evaluated nursing education and decided that the most
effective way forward for current and future students, as well as nursing in
the state of New Jersey, was the formation of two distinct and separate nursing
schools: one of which is the Rutgers School of Nursing the other is the School
of Nursing-Camden.
The new Rutgers
School of Nursing, created on July 1, 2014 as a merger of the former Rutgers
College of Nursing with the Newark campus of the former UMDNJ School of Nursing,
started admitting students in the fall of 2014. The Dean and Distinguished
Professor at the legacy Rutgers College of Nursing, William L. Holzemer, Ph.D.,
R.N., FAAN, became the dean of the unified Rutgers School of Nursing.
While the
Rutgers School of Nursing is considered a new school, the merger of the former
Rutgers College of Nursing and the former UMDNJ School of Nursing brought
together two programs that have over 100 years of collective experience and
history in offering nursing education in the state of New Jersey.
Former Rutgers College of Nursing
Rutgers had
been involved in the education of nurses since the early 1940s, when the Newark
and Camden campuses offered courses in public health nursing. The nursing
program at the Rutgers University-Newark was established in 1952 with funds
allocated by the governor. In 1955, the School of Nursing received
accreditation by the National League for Nursing and on March 6, 1956, became
the College of Nursing. Key milestones included:
-
Establishment of the nation's first clinical nurse specialist
graduate program in psychiatric nursing in 1956.
-
Establishment of three graduate clinical programs in community
health nursing, parent/child nursing, and medical/surgical nursing in 1974.
-
Establishment of the registered nurse to bachelor of science in
nursing program in 1980.
-
Establishment of the undergraduate nursing program on the Rutgers
University-New Brunswick campus in 1983.
-
Approval of the first Ph.D. program in nursing by the New Jersey
Board of Higher Education in 1989; the doctorate of nursing practice (D.N.P.) was implemented
in 2007.
Former University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)
School of Nursing
The School of
Nursing of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey began as an
academic program in 1990 and was established on December 10, 1992. The School
of Nursing offered a comprehensive program of education, research, and clinical
practice grounded in the ideals of excellence, innovation, and service. By 2012
the school had an enrollment of 1635 students and was the state's largest
program of graduate nursing education. Its
commitment to leadership resulted in many "firsts":
-
Establishment of New Jersey's first D.N.P. program.
-
Establishment of one of the nation's first Clinical Nurse Leader master's degree programs.
-
Establishment of the state's only nurse-managed, interdisciplinary
mobile health program, which later grew into a federally-funded Community
Health Center that exists to this day as
Rutgers Community Health Center
in Newark.
The School of
Nursing also housed, and brought to the merger, the François-Xavier Bagnoud
(FXB) Center, a leader and innovator in the collaborative development of
sustainable programs for vulnerable women, children, youth and families,
including those infected/affected by HIV/AIDS locally, nationally, and globally.
About the School of Nursing 
