A Road to Excellence encapsulates the establishment of a school nursing at the University Hospital of the West Indies and the progression of the basic nursing education programme from an apprenticeship system based on the British model to a partial student status system. The quality of the leadership throughout the period has been highlighted. The authors chronicle the influence of the Jamaica General Trained Nurses Association/Nurses Association of Jamaica, the regulating role of the Nursing Council, and show how support from regional and international agencies contributed to changes in the administration and integrity of the curriculum.