(1914 - 1965)
 In the early years of the hospital, the nurses who cared for
the sick and injured were untrained men and women. Quite often
these attendants were former patients who had shown some aptitude
or desire to nurse others after their own recovery. At that time,
such employees were usually the working poor, commanding low
wages and having limited access to education.
However, some individuals
demonstrated a real vocation for the care of the sick and were
a great resource to the hospital community. In 1875, the Board
took under consideration plans to establish a training school
for female nurses. However, it was not until 1914 that the
Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing for Men was established
at the Department
for Mental and Nervous Diseases, located at the hospital's
West Philadelphia campus. It was the first training school for
male
nurses in the U.S. to be headed by a man, Leroy N. Craig.
The original purpose of the school was to meet the needs of
the community for competent professional male nurses. The educational
program was designed to provide an integrated background in general
nursing upon which specialization in psychiatric and urological
nursing could be developed after completion of the course.
In 1932, an Affiliate Program in Psychiatric Nursing was developed.
The School of Nursing for Men was one of nine "diploma" or
hospital-based nursing schools that participated in this cooperative
program. Approximately 12,000 affiliate students participated
in this mental health nursing training program.
During the 1950s, through the efforts of Mr. Craig and Congresswoman
Frances Payne Bolton, male nurses were granted commissions in
the armed forces. Several graduates of the Pennsylvania Hospital
School of Nursing for Men were the first to enter.
In 1965, the Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing for Men
was dissolved, after having graduated 551 men over its 51-year
history. The school for women was dissolved the same year and
a co-educational program was established. This program continued
to attract male students each year until the school was closed
in 1974.
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