The Mennonite Sanitarium Training School for nurses at La Junta, Colorado, was founded in 1915 by the Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities (MC), under whose general control it operated until the fall of 1949, when it was transferred to the Mennonite Board of Education, whose primary purpose was to administer the educational institutions of the church. Until 1946 the school was an integral part of the Mennonite Hospital and Sanitarium. At this time the school was set up as an independent institution under the direct supervision of a school board of control. The name was changed to La Junta Mennonite School of Nursing. From its beginning the purpose of the school was to "give Christian young women training in the care of the sick in such an environment that they may develop in Christian life and character." The motto of the school, "Not to be ministered unto, but to minister," was the basis for the formulation of the philosophy which underlay its total program. The school was fully accredited by the Colorado State Board of Nurse Examiners from its beginning and it received temporary accreditation from the National Accrediting Service in 1951.

The school’s program covered a period of 39 months: nine months in an accredited college, where the pre-nursing sciences were studied, and 30 months in the nursing school, where the clinical instruction and practice were taught. Clinical practice in medical and surgical nursing, maternity, operating room, tuberculosis, and diet therapy were obtained in the Mennonite Hospital and Sanitarium at La Junta. Pediatric and Psychiatric Nursing were obtained by affiliation with the Children's Hospital in Denver and Colorado University School of Nursing at the State Hospital in Pueblo. An elective in Public Health Nursing was also available through the University.

A total of 343 nurses had graduated by 1957. The enrollment at that time was 51. Lydia Heatwole, a graduate of the first class, was the director 1918-1932, and Nora Mae Miller, of the class of 1923, was the director of education 1925-1950. They were guiding personalities in the history of the school. Maude Swartzendruber became the director in 1943 and Edna Amstutz became the director of education in 1950. Because of a decline in the patient census at the Mennonite Hospital it was decided to discontinue the School of Nursing with the class graduating in 1958.

See also Mennonite Hospital and Sanitarium

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 264. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

©1996-2009 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.

MLA style: Swartzendruber, Maude. "La Junta Mennonite School of Nursing (La Junta, Colorado, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1958. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2009 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/L1835.html>

APA style: Swartzendruber, Maude. (1958). "La Junta Mennonite School of Nursing (La Junta, Colorado, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2009 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/L1835.html>