The Foundation of New York State Nurses, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation, relies on donations and membership contributions to carry out its mission. Charitable, educational, literary, and scientific in nature, the Foundation's primary purpose is to increase public knowledge and understanding of nursing, the nursing profession, and the arts and sciences on which human health depends.  The work of the Foundation is directed by a Board of Trustees and conducted by a dedicated staff of nursing professionals and volunteers.

The Foundation of New York State Nurses addresses its mission through three program centers:

The St. Luke's Hospital School of Nursing Alumnae Center for Public Education is dedicated to improving health care, health consciousness and public understanding and utilization of professional nurses.

• The Center Produces informational materials about nursing and health for public dissemination;
• Promotes direct public-professional contact through health education programs provided by professional nurses;
• Promotes public access to information about heath and nursing via the media and audio visual materials;
• Monitors public perceptions of and responses to services provided by the nursing profession and its members.

The work of the Center is directed by a Planning Committee which oversees

• LENS Program
• The Institute for Nursing – to address issues related to sustaining and promoting the nursing workforce in New York State.

The Central New York Nurses Center for Nursing Research is dedicated to improving nursing practice through the facilitation and the conduct of nursing research and use of the best available evidence. The work is directed and conducted by a Planning Committee which collaborates with other organizations in establishing and implementing the Nursing Research Agenda for New York State. It advances public and professional recognition and understanding of nursing research and the application of research evidence to practice. The Planning Committee also secures and disseminates funding for nursing research and utilization projects, conducts nursing research, and promotes careers in nursing research.

The Board of Trustees of the Foundation confers three annual research awards:

• Distinguished Nurse Researcher Award
• Novice Nurse Researcher Award
• Evidence-based Practice Award

To facilitate and promote careers in nursing research, the Foundation and the New York State Nurses Association each support a Research Fellow for a three year term. During this term the Fellow completes an individualized research project under the mentorship of a Planning Committee member.

The Bellevue Alumnae Center for Nursing History is dedicated to preserving and promoting understanding of the profession's magnificent services to society. As a component of this discipline history center, an archives program preserves and makes available for public use archival records and manuscript collections which document nursing in New York State. The Archives program is committed to:

• Appraising, collecting, arranging, describing, preserving, and making available the archival records of selected nursing organizations;
• Serving as a repository of the last resort for other professional nursing records of enduring value in New York;
• Providing adequate facilities for the retention, processing, preservation, and research use of these records;
• Assisting in the development and implementation of a documentation strategy to chronicle the history of professional nursing in New York;
• Providing consultation to groups and individuals on the preservation of records which document the nursing profession in New York; and
• Promoting the use of archival records and manuscript collections in scholarly study of nursing and health in society.

The Bellevue Alumnae Center for Nursing History has many other resources. Among them are: 1) a Guide to Records (e.g., access descriptions, box lists, and specialized indexes); 2) an Oral History Program (i.e., life stories of nurses whose careers contributed to the rich history of nursing in New York); and a Guide for Preserving Nursing’s Historic Treasures.

Please browse our web site for additional information related to each of these Centers, or plan a visit to our Guilderland, NY headquarters.

Click here for directions to the Foundation of New York State Nurses.