The Department of Nursing and Health was established at Allentown College of St. Francis de Sales (now DeSales University) in 1974. At that time, there was no institution of higher learning within the Lehigh Valley area that granted baccalaureate degrees in nursing. Community needs assessments verified that this type of program would be of value in serving the health care needs of people within the Lehigh Valley. The College first offered a major in Nursing in 1974, and graduated its first class of undergraduate nursing majors in 1978, granting them Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degrees.

The Department of Nursing and Health offered the first graduate program at DeSales University in 1984, with the establishment of the master's of science in nursing (MSN) program. The first MSN graduates from DeSales University were prepared as advanced practice nurses focused on adult health, with options to specialize in the functional roles of clinical nurse specialist, administrator or educator. The Department now offers graduate programs that prepare advanced practice nurses as Family Nurse Practitioners, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nurse Educators, and Nurse Executives. These programs remained the only graduate programs in nursing offered by an institution of higher learning within the Lehigh Valley for more than 25 years. More than 250 nurses have been awarded MSN degrees at the University since 1984. DeSales University continues to offer programs in response to the needs of consumers, nurses, and health care employers.

The programs tracks reflect the philosophy of the Department of Nursing and Health. The objectives of the programs emanate from statements of belief concerning being human in contemporary society, the relationship of the nurse to the patient, and the responsibilities of the nurse in delivering health care today and in the future.

Philosophically, the program adheres to the University's belief that there is a Christian way of being human. Advanced practice nursing, as an art and science, is based in scientific inquiry and established principles of Christian beliefs. The curricula are rooted in the tenets of Salesian Christian Humanism in which persons are viewed holistically; subsequent nursing activities aim to foster each person's full physical, intellectual, moral, social, aesthetic, and spiritual-religious development. Students implement the concepts of health promotion, restoration, and palliation at an advanced level.