College of Nursing, Trivandrum, Kerala
The College of Nursing, Trivandrum, Kerala, India, founded in 1972, is the pioneer institute for nursing education in Kerala and one of the earliest in South East Asia. It comes under the Directorate of Medical Education, Government of Kerala and is affiliated to the University of Kerala and the Kerala University of Health Sciences. History. It started as a school of nursing in the 1943,offering diploma courses to students. It was in the year 1963,that it was elevated into a college with bachelor programs, first of its kind in Kerala. Since its establishment, it remained  as a department under the Government Medical College Trivandrum. It was only recently that it began to function as a separate autonomous entity under the DME. Courses offered. The school has been offering post-graduate programmes in nursing since 1987. The college has four areas of PG specialty training: (medical-surgical nursing) 'paediatric nursing, obstetrical and gynaecological nursing and community health nursing. It is the only center in Kerala offering doctoral studies in nursing. Originally, the number of male students permitted to enroll in the school was restructured to 12.5% of applicants. Presently, the college admits male students with no  restriction as to numbers. Previously, students were admitted based on the ranks secured in the All Kerala Medical Entrance Examination, but now the entries are based on marks of the Higher Secondary School Certificates. The capacity of the undergraduate program was increased from 60 to 75 in 2008.