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Nursing schools worldwide have been ranked for the first time in a global university survey with two New Zealand university schools making the top 100.

Nursing was amongst six new subjects added to the latest edition of the United Kingdom-based QS World University Rankings by Subject survey released this week. 

The number one spot was given to the University of Pennsylvania Nursing School – home to one of nursing's most high profile researchers Professor Linda Aiken  –  followed by John Hopkins University. The remaining top five spots went to two Canadian schools and a Swedish school.

The highest ranked New Zealand university nursing school was the University of Auckland at 32^nd and Massey University was ranked in the 51-100 top schools. Across the Tasman Australia took 16 of the top 100 places (the top ranking was the University of Sydney at 13^th) to make Australia the second-best nursing school nation after the United States.

QS Quacquarelli Symonds, the company that compiles the rankings, said it draws on the expert opinions of more than 75,000 academics and 44,000 employers as well as 113 million journal citations to compile its ranking in 42 university disciplines. 

For its first nursing school ranking it analysed 247,910 nursing research papers leading it to a draw up a list of 848 institutions for consideration.  This was narrowed down to 396 for an initial nominal ranking and then refined down to the top 100.

QS said the United States was the most featured country in the nursing rankings taking nine of the top 20 places and 32 places overall.  In total there were nursing schools from 19 different countries in the top 100 with institutions from six different countries in the top 20.