Endowment for Nursing Leadership & Education helps nurses achieve lifelong goals

In 2021, St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center ® created the Endowment for Nursing Leadership and Education as a permanent resource to provide essential funding for training, mentoring and formal education for all levels of nursing staff. In its first year, the program had a tremendous impact on the cohort of nurses who were selected to receive support.

Alexandria Ruddy, a nurse at St. Francis Hospital since 2018, has always loved her work. But it was a medical mission trip to Jamaica organized by a nurse practitioner, where she and fellow volunteers helped 1,500 patients over the course of three days, that inspired her to think about becoming a nurse practitioner. “I was able to see how much nurse practitioners could do on a worldwide level,” said Ruddy.

Back at home, her grandfather, Thomas Ruddy, was a St. Francis patient, and the nurse practitioners at the hospital helped her better understand his treatment plan. Finally, in March 2020, at the start of the COVID pandemic, she saw first-hand the important work that nurse practitioners accomplish.

Thanks to the Endowment, she was able to enroll in the nurse practitioner program at Stony Brook University (class of 2024) and build on the knowledge she had gained from her undergraduate nursing degree and real-world experience. Ruddy said that financial assistance through the Endowment means, “I don’t have to worry about tuition, and it has allowed me to focus more on working and going to school.”

Richard Crudo began working as a nurse at St. Francis in 2006 in the Medical ICU and currently works in nurse education at the hospital to train new nurses. He considered graduate school while he was an undergraduate at Molloy University and even took a semester of graduate courses, but stopped pursing an advanced degree because of the high cost. Thanks to the St. Francis Nursing Endowment, Crudo is now working toward a master’s degree in nursing education from his alma mater. “This has been a dream that’s come true for my family and me,” Crudo said.

Kelly Whalen, who has been at St. Francis for more than five years and is currently working in the Cardiothoracic ICU, recently became an assistant nurse manager and refers to St. Francis as her second home. By earning her nurse practitioner degree at Molloy University with support from the Nursing Endowment, she is excited to be able to care for patients alongside the highly skilled nurse practitioners in her unit.

These nurses, and many more, find themselves grateful for the investment in their education and careers by St. Francis, and the donors who partnered with the hospital to make it happen. St. Francis Hospital Foundation board members Richard Winslow and John Burns were so inspired when they heard the stories of nurses like Ruddy, Crudo and Whalen, that they each presented a matching gift opportunity to others to support the endowment.

Winslow first challenged his fellow board members to raise funds for the Endowment. Inspired by his respect for St. Francis Hospital President Charles L. Lucore, MD, MBA, and by the attentive, superior care he received from St. Francis nurses. “I was driven to find a way to thank them and encourage others to follow,” he said.

John Burns had his own similar experience with St. Francis nurses, calling them “phenomenal.” To build on Winslow’s offer, Burns presented a similar challenge that was open to the community. “This was an opportunity to give back,” he said.

Both challenges raised a generous amount for the Nursing Endowment. “We were happy to do what we did and glad it worked out so well,” Burns added.

Silverman Scholars Fund honors the tireless work of nurses

“We wanted to give back to the nurses because they give so much of themselves to care for others. We’re hoping as the program continues, it can deliver a lot of benefit to those nurses wanting to further their education and advancement.”

– Louis Silverman

The difference was the nurses, who cared for him with the utmost compassion and treated him like family.

Louis Silverman can’t say enough about the nursing staff at St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center ®. Eighteen years ago, Silverman’s father, Allan, was treated at the hospital following a cardiac event. Silverman recalls being amazed by the excellent care his father received. He saw this same level of care again when his mother, Isabel, was in intensive care for 11 days and underwent a cardiac procedure, just ahead of the COVID pandemic. While visiting his mother, he also witnessed the care of a patient who didn’t have family by his side advocating for him.

Following these experiences, Silverman discussed with the St. Francis Foundation team how his family could become more involved at the hospital, which led to their first gift in support of the cardiac catheterization lab. They more recently completed a pledge to help build The Cancer Institute, all while the Silverman family continued to observe and experience the exceptional care delivered by St. Francis nurses. When he learned about the creation of the Endowment for Nursing Leadership and Education, Silverman knew he wanted to help advance that effort as well.

The family created the Silverman Nursing Scholars Fund as part of the Endowment. In its first year, the Fund sponsored seven nurses who are pursing advanced degrees or specialized training.

“We wanted to give back to the nurses because they give so much of themselves to care for others,” said Silverman. “We’re hoping as the program continues, it can deliver a lot of benefit to those nurses wanting to further their education and advancement.”