HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF NURSING SCIENCES  

The department was established by the University of Nairobi  in 1968, as Department of Advanced Nursing. It was meant to train nurses at advanced diploma level (DAN). The programme was meant for Basic Diploma holders (Kenya Registered Nurse). The programme was one of its kind both in East and Central Africa.

The main objective of starting the Department was to prepare nurse educators who could teach in nursing schools and administrate both the schools of nursing and hospitals. 

The programme was to run for 2 years and then change within the shortest time possible to a degree programme. This never happened until 24 years later, in 1992, when a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programme was started. It was developed by the University of Nairobi in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. 
The  first group of BSN students to be admitted to the Faculty of Medicine to pursue the degree did so in 1992.

A welcoming get-together party was organised by the  then Diploma in Advanced Nursing (DAN) students to introduce the pioneer BSN students  into  the Department. Oddly enough, only a few BSNs attended. This was the first sign of difficulties to be encountered  later. Being the first group to take a BSN programme,  they did not have models to emulate. They had to find their own way through.

The initial number admitted was 22. All these were fresh students who had done their secondary examinations about 2 years before. There were no in-service students. The course was very challenging as only 11  one woman and ten men, from this first class  managed to complete the course. They subsequently graduated on 9th December 1996.

What was more interesting was the fact that these initial students had not chosen to do a BSN degree for never existed in the University of Nairobi's  calendar before then. In addition, they had to battle it out with getting shunned by other students in the Faculty who did not understand what a degree in nursing was all about. An interesting incident is  reported whereby they were being barred from using the "shuttle" from Chiromo to Medical School simply because there was another minibus which belonged to DAN students. The authorities had to intervene and one of the intervention measures was to scrub the word DAN from the vehicles which was assigned to the department and of now, the sign board at the gate which used to read "Department of Advanced Nursing" has long disappeared from the gate. The once official title DAN has now been replaced by DNS (Department of Nursing Sciences).