110 Years of Nursing Education in Östersund | 1905 |
In September of 1905, the County council decided to start a course to educate nurses in Östersund. The issue had been brought up ten years earlier, but the education could not begin until the hospital was ready in 1905.
Not until 1977 did the nursing education become a university education and the interplay between education, research, subject development and practical educational work was highlighted. The nursing education in Östersund was also one of the first in the country to be incorporated into the university college when the Department of Health and Social Sciences was established at Mid Sweden University College in 1995.
In 1905, the newly started education lasted for a year and the conditions were that all students had to belong to the county, be healthy and have a strong body. Apart from having completed elementary school, the student had to be unmarried or a widow and be between 20 and 30 years old.
Gradually, the length of the education was increased, until it became three years in 1922, at the same time as the school was granted government approval. A thorough change was made in 1955, including extensive independent studies and practical and special education. Some years later, a nursing license was also introduced.