HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE OF NURSING
The School of Nursing was established in 1981 at the University of Missouri-St. Louis as an upper division, post-licensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program designed for registered nurses who received their pre-licensure nursing education in associate degree or diploma programs. The Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) Program was added in 1989 as a cooperative endeavor with the School of Nursing at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The cooperative Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Nursing was initiated in fall of 1994. Addition of the pre-licensure baccalaureate track of the BSN Program also occurred in 1994 with the merger of Barnes College of Nursing (an accredited, independent college) and the School of Nursing at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. The merger also resulted in approval for the School of Nursing to achieve college status, becoming the Barnes College of Nursing at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Outreach nursing education originated in 1988 when courses in the post-licensure track were first offered in Rolla. Outreach operations of the College have provided educational opportunities for nurses in the post-licensure track of the BSN Program and/or the MSN Program in Poplar Bluff, Portageville, St. Charles County, Jefferson County, Park Hills (Mineral Area Community College), Rolla and Washington.
The College was expanded in 2001 to include selected health professions in addition to nursing. The College offered the Bachelor of Health Science with options in cytotechnology and clinical laboratory science and the Master of Health Science with emphasis in Managerial Decision Making and Health Informatics. The College’s name was changed to the College of Nursing and Health Studies. Limited demand for these options led to closing them in 2005. In 2005, the Barnes-Jewish Hospital retrieved the name “Barnes” so that it could change the name of the Jewish Hospital College of Nursing to the Barnes-Jewish Hospital College of Nursing. The current nursing education entity at the University of Missouri-St. Louis is now designated as the College of Nursing.