Helene Fuld College of Nursing

Helene Fuld College of Nursing has been educating nurses for over seventy years. Founded in 1945, Helene Fuld (a private, not-for profit institution) has always been at the forefront of nursing education. Unique to the mission of the College is its career ladder approach. Recognizing nursing as a multi-level career, the College is committed to providing pathways for individuals who aspire to become nurses. The three program options are a one-year associate degree program (LPN to RN program) for licensed practical nurses who want to become registered nurses, a 28- month baccalaureate in nursing program (Generic program) for students who have no prior nursing degree, and a 19-month program (RN to BS program) for registered nurses who seek to earn a baccalaureate degree in nursing. Students in the LPN to RN and RN to BS programs have the option of attending part-time. Helene Fuld provides upward mobility to a largely minority population and provides critically needed registered nurses to medically underserved areas. Over ninety percent of currently enrolled students are minority and approximately 86% are female.

Graduates of the LPN to RN program are awarded an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree and are prepared to pass the NCLEX-RN examination required by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing and the New York State Education Department, Division of Professional Licensing Services. Graduates practice within the context of the New York State Definition of Registered Professional Nursing and the National League for Nursing’s Outcomes and Competencies for Graduates of Associate Degree Nursing (2010). As of November 2017, more than 5000 Associate in Applied Science degrees in nursing had been awarded. The Upper Division Bachelor of Science program (RN to BS) provides opportunities for strengthening the registered nurse’s professional practice and serves as the foundation for career advancement. The program focuses on the intersection of environmental health in urban communities and nursing.

Graduates of the Upper Division nursing program are awarded a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree with a major in nursing. In September 2018, the College opened its doors to the first cohort of Generic Bachelor of Science students. Commencement exercises for this first graduating class will occur in May 2021. Graduates will earn a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree with a major in nursing and will be eligible to sit for the NCLEX-RN examination. The College is located in Harlem, one of the most dynamic and revitalized communities in New York City. Easily accessible from all boroughs, adjacent counties, New Jersey, and Connecticut, the College draws students from all of these areas and is conveniently reached by subway, Metro North, bus or car. Some out-of-state nurses make housing arrangements in New York City in order to attend the College on a commuting basis as the College has no residence facilities.

The faculty believe that education is a dynamic, ongoing process that aims to stimulate intellectual curiosity and to help each individual realize his or her full potential. All people should have the opportunity to continue their education to the fullest extent of their aspirations and abilities. Optimal learning is achieved when the environment offers mutual respect, acceptance of differences, freedom of inquiry and expression, and satisfaction of learning needs. The faculty see their role as that of facilitators of the learning process. The faculty also believe that individual differences among students should be considered when planning and implementing the curriculum. Each student is given the opportunity to grow in knowledge, understanding, and skills through involvement in meaningful, sequentially arranged learning experiences.

Nursing is the science and practice that promotes a person’s adaptation to achieve integration with his/her environment during health and illness. The goal of nursing is to promote adaptation in a person’s physiological and psychosocial modes, thereby contributing to the person’s health, quality of life and/or dying with dignity. Nurses intervene in situations when the person exhibits actual or potential ineffective responses to environmental stimuli by utilizing the nursing process.

Person includes people as individuals or in groups. Each person is a unique being worthy of respect and dignity that possesses physical, social, psychological, spiritual, and cultural attributes. As a dynamic adaptive system, the person is in constant interaction with an ever-changing environment, continually adapting to environmental stimuli. In the process of satisfying basic physiological and psychosocial needs, the person learns and develops behaviors which strongly influence his or her adaptive responses.

Environment is defined as all conditions, circumstances, and influences surrounding and affecting the development and behavior of persons and groups.

Health is defined as a state and a process of being and becoming an integrated and whole human being. Health is a reflection of adaptation that is influenced by the nature of external as well as internal environmental stressors. Health is influenced by an individual’s adaptation to stressors. An individual’s response to stressors may be adaptive and/or ineffective in meeting basic needs and will determine the need for nursing intervention.

The faculty believe that all persons are entitled to optimum healthcare. The faculty believe this is a basic human right which should become one of our nation’s high-priority goals. The faculty believe that nursing is essential to the health delivery system in achieving this goal. Since modern nursing encompasses an increasingly broad range of knowledge and skills, it can best fulfill its obligations to society by preparing different levels of nurses. These range from the licensed practical nurse to the doctorally prepared nurse.