History of La Source

La Source is enhancing the appeal of nursing, developing postgraduate pathways and stepping up research in response to changes in the healthcare system. Teaching methods are evolving to meet the needs of professionals and society, notably through the development of more flexible formats.

The launch of microcertifications, in partnership with HEIG‑VD, introduces short, cumulative and certified courses, enabling personalised learning pathways. Research and innovation play a central role in this process, ensuring the institution’s long-term development.

In 2020, in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the course rapidly adapted through the use of hybrid teaching methods, supported by strong institutional commitment and the dedication of students in their practical placements.

The Beaulieu site has been mobilised to host a COVID-19 vaccination centre, under the responsibility of the Canton of Vaud (Cantonal Crisis Management Team), with medical and operational support from the CHUV and the Clinique de La Source. The School is actively contributing to this alongside other partners.

On 28 November 2021, the ‘For Strong Nursing Care’ initiative was approved by the people and the cantons, marking a strong recognition of the role of nurses in the healthcare system. The challenges of making the nursing profession attractive have become central, in line with this development and the needs of the healthcare system.

In September 2018, the La Source Institute and University of Health Sciences opened its new campus in Beaulieu, designed as an integrated environment serving undergraduate and postgraduate students, staff and interprofessional collaboration. The site includes a simulated hospital, enabling complex clinical situations to be replicated in conditions close to reality, as well as specialised simulation rooms, modular learning spaces, offices, communal areas and a social space designed to encourage interaction.

It also houses strategic initiatives such as the SILAB (Source Innovation Lab), dedicated to experimentation and innovation, and the senior-lab, which focuses on healthy ageing and participatory research with older people.

This new environment embodies an integrated approach combining undergraduate and postgraduate education, research and service provision, with a focus on staying closely connected to the realities of the field.

In 2017, La Source joined the cross-border Autonomie 2020 project, which aims to develop innovative solutions to support the independence of older people, in collaboration with French and Swiss partners. In the same year, the organisation strengthened its partnerships with organisations on the ground (notably with Vitalab Vaud) and developed initiatives promoting interprofessional collaboration.

The Alter Ego led to the creation of an innovative portal dedicated to the prevention and detection of elder abuse, illustrating La Source’s commitment to society.

In 2018, several flagship projects reinforced this positioning. Firstly, the roll-out of virtual reality (a project with UbiSim) to train students in secure, immersive environments. And secondly, the launch of the senior-lab, an interdisciplinary initiative dedicated to healthy ageing, bringing together research, fieldwork and the involvement of a community of older people.

Educational innovation is becoming a key focus with the establishment of a simulated hospital, ‘Le Seb’, in the Sébeillon neighbourhood, alongside immersive tools. Simulation technologies and interprofessional approaches are transforming learning methods. Applied research is being strengthened in line with the needs of the field.

La Source is expanding its postgraduate programmes and stepping up its research activities. In 2013, Switzerland’s first CAS in Clinical Nursing Assessment exemplified this move towards specialisation. The institution is reaffirming its contribution to the development of nursing practice and the healthcare system.

The transition to European standards (the Bologna Process) has shaped the programmes. In 2009, the introduction of the HES-SO Bachelor of Science in Nursing, worth 180 ECTS credits, formalised the tertiary level and strengthened the profession’s national recognition.

The integration of the nursing programme in 2002 into the HES‑SO has established the Institut et Haute École de la Santé La Source within the Swiss higher education landscape and strengthened its academic standing. The diploma awarded by the Swiss Red Cross has been replaced by a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, in line with the Bologna Process and the international recognition of qualifications.

This development responds to a growing demand for qualified staff and the increasing complexity of the healthcare system’s needs. We are adapting our curricula and developing our research and service activities in line with these challenges.

The school opened its doors on 4 November 1859, under the name École normale de garde-malades, thanks to the initiative of Countess Valérie de Gasparin and her husband Agénor. Unlike Florence Nightingale, Valérie de Gasparin did not practise nursing herself. Her primary concern was to professionalise female carers, who at that time were members of religious orders. The aim was now to train professionals who would not only be competent and paid, but also free to practise according to their own conscience, with complete independence of mind.

Neither para-religious nor para-medical, the School was nevertheless shaped by the pastors of the Vaud Free Church who led it during its first 30 years, as well as by the doctors who taught there, with the later support of the ‘instructors’.

Beginning with a four- to five-month training course, the start was modest and very gradual. At that time, the concept of a care worker was unknown to the general public.

Despite competition from the Deaconesses of Saint-Loup, who had a long-standing presence in both education and hospital care, by 1882 there were already 203 active professionals from La Source, out of the 295 trained up to that point.

To ensure the school’s long-term future, Valérie de Gasparin established the La Source Foundation in 1890. She established this foundation at Villa La Source in Lausanne and endowed it with sufficient funds. As early as 1891, a dispensary and a clinic known as "de Beaulieu" were also opened; this would later become the Clinique de La Source. Whilst Florence Nightingale made the School an annexe of the hospital, Valérie de Gasparin wanted a school that had a hospital as its annexe. The Foundation’s articles of association stipulate that the School remains independent of any hospital institution. Dr Charles Krafft, a pioneer of appendectomy, was appointed director of the School, at the instigation of Dr César Roux, a member of the Foundation’s board.

From 1895 onwards, the duration of the training was extended to eight months, then, towards the end of the 19^th century, to three years, including two years of practical training. In 1896, Dr Krafft opposed Pastor Roehrich at the Swiss Congress on Women’s Interests, held in Geneva, arguing that nurses should receive a scientific education rather than one centred on strict obedience to the doctor.

The concept of training lay nurses began to gain ground in Switzerland with the establishment of the Lindenhof School in Bern (1899) and the Pflegerinnenschule in Zurich (1901).

From 1910 onwards, the nursing profession evolved and broke free from the supervision of the medical profession through its own associative structures, which merged to form the ASI in 1978.

When the First World War broke out, the Sisters of La Source joined war ambulances, such as that run by Alexis Carrel in Compiègne, close to the front line. Between 1939 and 1945, 600 of them were called up.

From 1923 to 1999, the training programmes were monitored and accredited by the Swiss Red Cross, for which the School served as the French-speaking Swiss branch for nurse training.

In 1929, La Source introduced a post-diploma course for public health nurses, followed in 1991 by a course in interdisciplinary practices in gerontology and geriatrics. Since the 1950s, La Source has expanded the scope of its training programmes in line with developments in medical specialisms, whilst also focusing on the humanities and social sciences.

La Source welcomes its first male student.

The 1990s saw the arrival of teachers with higher education qualifications and the creation of a Research and Development Unit (URD). The aim was to produce specialised knowledge that was not merely the ‘lower or residual level of a dominant body of knowledge’. The emergence of nursing as a discipline, which originated in North America, prepared La Source for the university-level teaching to come, with programmes designed and managed by nurses.

ad-interim since 2026

Micheline Boyer (1926-2003): 1977 to 1988

Charlotte von Allmen (1922-2010): 1964 to 1977

Gertrude Augsburger (1901-1994): 1952 to 1964

Pierre Jaccard (1901-1979): 1940 to 1952

Maurice Vuilleumier (1881-1940): 1922 to 1940

Charles Krafft (1863-1921): de 1891 to 1921

Antoine Reymond (1824-1908): de 1863 to 1890

Jean Panchaud (1822-1862): de 1862 to 1863

Albert Müller (1811-1878): de 1859 to 1862