Did you know that, in the mid-20th century, Clark University was engaged in teaching future nurses and nursing educators?
Read on to learn more in an excerpt from “Clark University, 1887–1987: A Narrative History,” by William Koelsch, Clark professor emeritus and former University archivist.
In 1942, at the request of Worcester medical professionals, Clark had begun to teach the basic sciences required for nurses in the training program of nearby City Hospital. This led, in 1944, to the establishment of a Division of Nursing Education at Clark primarily for those who, having already secured the R.N. certificate, wished to work toward a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing education. Instruction began in the fall of 1944, but only two such degrees appear to have been awarded before the program was terminated in 1946, at least partly because of demands on classroom and laboratory space by the influx of returning veterans. In 1944-45 Clark and the Worcester State Hospital had also worked out plans for a joint clinical course in psychiatric nursing, lasting three semesters and carrying thirty hours of course credit at Clark.
