The college's roots date back to 1892 with the opening of the Carney Hospital Training School for Nurses in South Boston, Massachusetts. The school was sponsored by the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent DePaul. In addition to Carney Hospital Training School for Nurses, the Daughters of Charity also operated the St. John Hospital School of Nursing - established in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1892 and the St. Margaret Hospital School of Nursing established in 1903 in the Dorchester section of Boston.
In 1951, the Daughters of Charity merged the three schools into a single institution. This institution became known as the Catherine Labouré School of Nursing - the first independent, regional, three-year diploma program in New England. Classes were held on the campus of Carney Hospital in South Boston until 1954 when Catherine Labouré School of Nursing moved to the site of the new Carney Hospital in Dorchester.