West Conn is marking 50 years of the school's nursing program.  The first Nursing class graduated in 1970 with eight students. This 50+1 year milestone was celebrated during Homecoming Weekend Friday and Saturday. 

The WCSU Doctorate in Nursing Practice program will launch in fall 2022. This is a post-master’s program with tracks in Mental Health and Acute Care, Adult Gerontology Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Nurse Specialist. 

When Danbury Hospital closed its nursing education program, its board of directors recommended that then-Western Connecticut State College fill the void using the hospital’s clinical facilities to create a collegiate program.  In 1964, the former home of Danbury High School on White Street was purchased by the state and renamed White Hall after Alexander White, a Danbury native. It served as the initial and ongoing home for the Nursing program. 

Today, nursing makes up the largest workforce in healthcare. 

West Conn was the first school in the United States to install an IBM Advanced Technology classroom in the Westside Classroom Building in 1988, which became widely used by the school’s Education and Nursing departments.  In 2000, the Department of Nursing extended the RN-BS program to include course offerings at the WCSU at Waterbury site, located on the campus of Naugatuck Valley Community College.

In August 2006, the Nursing department acquired two more Nursing labs in Higgins Hall. In 2020, the entire Department of Nursing faculty offices and Skills labs moved to the newly renovated second floor of White Hall. The Fundamentals Skills classroom and lab also were opened. The State Board of Nursing inspected the new labs and office in fall 2021.