The School of Nursing was founded in 1940 and is the oldest nursing education program of the University of Puerto Rico System. It began as one of the programs of the School of Tropical Medicine in San Juan. Then it was part of the Department of Preventive Medicine of the School of Public Health.

In 1975, when the Medical Sciences Campus was reorganized, the School became a unit of the School of Health Professions. On July 1, 1995 it became an autonomous deanship and later a School within the Medical Sciences Campus.