Nurse education qualification courses have graduate status. Traditionally, from the times prior to Florence Nightingale, nursing was seen as an apprenticeship, often undertaken in religious institutes such as convents by young women, although there has always been a proportion of male nurses, especially in mental health services. In 1860 Nightingale set up the first nurse training school at St Thomas' Hospital, London. Nightingale's curriculum was largely base around nursing practice, with instruction focused upon the need for hygiene and task competence. Her methods are reflected in her "Notes on Nursing", (1898). Some other nurses at that time, notably Ethel Gordon Fenwick, were
SRM Nightingale School Valliammai Society began its educational activities in 1969 by starting a Primary School in the name of Florence Nightingale and upgrading the status to Matriculation Higher Secondary School in 1981. In 1984, SRM ventured into higher education with the launch of the Valliammai Polytechnic. The year 1985 saw the birth of the SRM Engineering College, the flagship institution of the group. During 1992-93 the Group ventured into medical education and started SRM College of Nursing and SRM College of Pharmacy. During 1993-94 two more medical institutions namely SRM School of Nursing and SRM College of Physiotherapy were added. During the