1962
In 1962 the idea was conceived to build a School of Nursing and a residence at Western Memorial Hospital in Corner Brook, as a response to an ever increasing demand for registered nurses on the west coast of Newfoundland.
1964
In 1964 the first sod was turned, marking the beginning of construction of the new $2,000,000.00 school/residence complex.
1966
Plans progressed, and in 1966, a Nursing Education Advisory Board was appointed. A decision was made, based on the Hall Royal Commission report by the Canadian Nurses Association and recommendations by the Association of Registered Nurses of Newfoundland that this was to be a two year nursing program – the first of its kind in eastern Canada. At this time there were only four such schools known to exist in Canada. The school was to be developed in cooperation with the Association of Registered Nurses of Newfoundland, in close liaison with Memorial University of Newfoundland.
1969
The first director of the school, Katherine Wells Daley and six faculty members were appointed in 1968, and one year later, September 1969, the school opened its doors to the first class of thirty-nine students; thirty-seven women and two men.
1970
In 1970, Monaghan Hall, the students’ residence and school was officially named in honor of a well known family physician, Dr. T. T. Monaghan, who for over thirty years devoted his life to the health and well being of Corner Brook’s citizens.
1971
Ethel Martin
1975
Barbara Quilty
Then 1975 brought another first for Western Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, as that year an integrated nursing curriculum was introduced into the program, the first of its kind in Newfoundland.
1979
Gary Bradbury
In September 1979, the program was extended to 30 months to give the students an opportunity to further consolidate and practice their knowledge and to develop leadership skills.
1983
Maureen (Taylor) Doody
1985
In 1985 a Preceptorship program was initiated during the final six months of the nursing program, one of the first such programs to be implemented in Canada.
1994
Elisa Sinnicks House
1996
In 1996 the School changed its name to Western Regional School of Nursing to reflect its regional mandate and became a site for the delivery of the new provincial Bachelor of Nursing (Collaborative) Program in affiliation with Memorial University of Newfoundland. The two other partner sites are Memorial University School of Nursing and the Centre for Nursing Studies, both located in St. John’s. The non-nursing courses for the BN (Collaborative) Program are delivered by Sir Wilfred Grenfell College (SWGC).
2007
Presently there are over 200 students and 20 faculty and staff.