Helene Fuld College of Nursing, Harlem

Overview

The Helene Fuld College of Nursing (HFCN) was founded in 1945 as a private, non-profit College, and is at the forefront of nursing education. Accredited by ACEN (for the AAS program), CCNE (for the BS programs) and Middle States (for the entire College), HFCN provides opportunities for a professional career in nursing through three programs:

• An accelerated LPN to RN/AAS track, which can be completed in 18 months;
• A generic baccalaureate in nursing program for students with no prior nursing degree, and which can be completed in 28 months;
• A baccalaureate in nursing completion program for registered nurses.

The College is located in Harlem, one of the most dynamic and safe communities in New York City. We are easily accessible from all boroughs, Long Island and the Tri-State Area via public transportation, Metro North or car, although parking is limited. Classes are held during the day and evenings, Monday through Saturday. Clinical placements are located throughout NYC and Long Island, and are scheduled Tuesdays through Sundays.

Mission and Vision:

Helene Fuld College of Nursing will be nationally recognized for excellence in nursing education, and noted for its comprehensive, innovative academic programs that are responsive to the healthcare challenges of the future.

Helene Fuld College of Nursing is an independent single-purpose institution. Its mission is to provide a dynamic career-ladder approach to nursing education to improve professional practice and contribute to the health of communities.

Institutional Goals and Objectives:

Goal I:    Professional Learning:

• We will attain student achievement and learning in academic nursing to prepare excellent clinicians and leaders

Goal II:  Professional Advancement:

• We advance change and pursue new opportunities by developing new programs for educational advancement and promoting innovation in current programs.
• We strengthen alliances and partnerships with health care systems and stakeholders to support the dynamic career ladder approach to nursing education to improve professional practice and contribute to the health of communities.

Goal III:  Professional Environment:

• We will develop best practices to advance faculty, staff and students: For a healthy environment, we empower students, staff and faculty and promote collegial dialogue, change, creativity, values development and ethical behavior.

Philosophy

Education. 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.

Nursing Education. 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.

Licensed Practical Nurse. The licensed practical nurse, under the direction of a registered nurse, is prepared to give basic nursing care. The faculty believe knowledge acquired by the practical nurse is basic to all nursing. When verified by licensure and skills competency, practical nursing constitutes a valid basis for awarding advanced standing to persons who wish to continue their studies towards the associate degree in nursing.

Associate Degree Registered Nurse. The associate degree graduate from Helene Fuld College of Nursing possesses knowledge drawn from the biophysical and psychosocial sciences and the humanities. As a participating member of the healthcare team, the graduate is able to apply this knowledge to the nursing process in the care of diverse client populations.

Baccalaureate Degree Nurse. The Bachelor of Science (BS) degree graduate from Helene Fuld College of Nursing is prepared to assume a leadership role as a member of the healthcare team. The BS graduate integrates knowledge from the liberal arts and sciences, and advanced nursing theory, to care for and educate diverse clients and communities.

College History

In 1945, when New York City’s Hospital for Joint Diseases was located in Harlem, a “training school” for practical nurses was established. In 1955, after the school received a grant from the Helene Fuld Health Foundation, the Hospital named the school “The Helene Fuld School of Nursing”. Dr. Leonhard Felix Fuld, a New York City public health advocate and philanthropist, and his sister, Florentine, created the foundation in memory of their mother, Helene Schwab Fuld, a health care crusader in the 1880’s.

Helene Fuld College has always been at the forefront of nursing education. In 1964, the school started the first program in the country for licensed practical nurses to become diploma registered nurses. In 1975, when it received its permanent charter from New York State with the authority to confer the Associate in Applied Science degree in nursing, the school became one of the first hospital-based schools in the country to offer the associate degree. In 1981, Helene Fuld also became the first hospital-based associate degree program to be accredited by the National League for Nursing and in 1988 it became the first hospital-based nursing school to become accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

In October 1978, the original practical nursing program terminated after having educated almost 300 practical nurses. The Hospital for Joint Diseases became known as Joint Diseases North General Hospital in 1979 and was then renamed North General Hospital in 1990. In February 1996, with the permission of the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York, the name “Helene Fuld School of Nursing” was changed to “Helene Fuld College of Nursing”. It was felt that this name better reflected the College’s standing as an institution of higher education.

In July 2007, the College separated from North General hospital and was established as an independent not-for-profit College under the authority of the New York State Board of Regents.

In early 2012, the College received approval from the New York State Department of Education to confer the Bachelor of Science degree to registered nurses who have associate degrees. The degree emphasizes environmental urban health nursing. In April 2018, the College received approval from the New York State Department of Education to confer the Bachelor of Science degree to students who do not already possess a degree in nursing.

The College currently occupies close to 50,000 square feet of space on Bethel Gospel Assembly Church’s third and fourth floors. There are approximately 600 full- and part-time students enrolled in the associate degree and upper division baccalaureate programs.

Helene Fuld Health Trust
In 1935, Dr. Leonhard Felix Fuld, a public health advocate and philanthropist, established the Helene Fuld Health Foundation, which provided monies for the education, health, and welfare of student nurses. In 1969, after Dr. Fuld’s death, the Foundation was dissolved according to his instructions, and its assets were transferred to the Helene Fuld Health Trust. Currently, the sole trustee of the Fuld Trust is HSBC Bank, USA. Helene Fuld College of Nursing has been associated with the Trust since 1955 and has received grants for scholarships, building renovations, and equipment.