The College of Nursing (CON) was founded as a 5-year junior college program in 1963. It aimed to educate outstanding professional nurses by recruiting junior high-school graduates. By 1977, the quality of nursing education had improved considerably and the junior college program became an undergraduate program that recruited only high-school graduates, all of whom were female. The first male students to enter an undergraduate nursing program in Taipei Medical University (TMU) were recruited in 1985. In the current undergraduate program, students are required to complete 128 credits (about 4 years of coursework) in order to obtain a bachelor’s degree.
To comply with Taiwan’s national education policy, which sought the systematic improvement of professional nursing quality, a pilot RN-to-BSN program was initiated in 1990. Under this program, junior college graduates who completed the credit requirements were awarded a bachelor degree. Following a successful trial period, the program, under which students with RN licenses are enrolled annually, was officially established in 1994.
Other programs have been introduced to enhance professional development and improve health care. A 3-year RN-to-BSN anesthetic nursing program was established in 2005 but was discontinued, having achieved its goals, in 2012. In response to social and population change and the growing needs of the older people, the School of Geriatric Nursing and Care Management program was established in 2007. This program recruits high school graduates, requires four years of course work, and awards a bachelor’s degree.
A master’s program was established in the Graduate Institute of Nursing in 1995. Its aim was to provide advanced nursing education and develop outstanding nurses, with an initial focus on nursing administration, adult care, and community nursing. Additional programs have since been introduced: in pediatrics and mental health in 2000 and in anesthetic and geriatric nursing in 2005, giving a total of seven different streams. In a sign of the globalization of health care, the graduate program began recruiting international students in 2010.
In order to develop future nursing researchers and educators, a cross-disciplinary medical-nursing doctoral program was established under the Graduate Institute of Medicine in 2001. It enrolls three to four students annually. A nursing doctoral program was established under the Graduate Institute of Nursing in 2006, enrolling nine doctoral students annually. In 2015, the Graduate Institute of Nursing was merged with the School of Nursing as a single unit which offer bachelor, master and Ph.D. programs. Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program and the International Doctoral Program in Nursing are both established in 2016.
In 2017, the College re-built the Intelligence Clinical Nursing Skill Center (ICNSC) which enables students to practice clinical skills in a safe environment. The Research Center of Active Ageing (RCAA), a college-level research center, is established in the same time to serve older adults in the community as a day care center as well as a “smart living lab” for teaching and research.
Currently, the CON has around 432 undergraduate students, 163 master students, 43 doctoral students as well as 11 international students. Our alumni have achieved outstanding performance in clinical, administrative, and academic fields.