Sarah Elizabeth Wardroper appointment as matron at St Thomas' Hospital in January 1854. Although nursing was still largely a disreputable occupation she made St Thomas' a model of reformed, professional, nursing and in 1860, with the creation of the training school for nurses by the Nightingale Fund at the same hospital, she was appointed superintendent. Florence Nightingale selected St Thomas' Hospital as the site for her new nurse training school, largely because of Wardroper's qualities (and those of the enlightened resident medical officer, R.G. Whitfield). Nightingale, Wardroper and Whitfield worked together to establish the new school, the first secular training school for nurses
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