The Nursing Foundation of Rhode Island presented its 2003 Clare Sullivan Nurse Leader Award to Valerie Ann Martin, RN, BSN, at a reception held on October 27^th at the Kirkbrae Country Club in Lincoln, Rhode Island.

Ms. Martin, a student in the Master's of Nursing Administration program at URI, is Director of Medical/Surgical Services and Safety Officer at Newport Hospital. Ms. Martin is also a member of the RI Organization of Nurse Executives and Sigma Theta Tau International Delta Upsilon Chapter, an honor society of nursing.

The scholarship of $1,000 was presented to Ms. Martin by Trudy Mulvey, RN, President of the Nursing Foundation of Rhode Island and Mr. Edward Sullivan and Ms. Louise Healey, brother and sister of the late Clare Sullivan in whose honor the award is made. Clare Sullivan was a psychiatric nurse who served as Director of Nurses at Butler Hospital for many years. Ms. Sullivan, a founding member of the Nursing Foundation of Rhode Island was known as a leader in promoting nursing and in encouraging nurses to assume leadership roles both in their professions and in the community. Upon her death in 1999, her family worked with the Nursing Foundation of Rhode Island to establish this award in her memory.

The Nursing Foundation of Rhode Island was founded in 1991 to promote nursing. Its mission is threefold: to increase public awareness of nursing and its role in promoting health and well-being, to foster the advancement of nursing through the awarding of research grants and scholarships; and to preserve the history of nursing in Rhode Island.

The Nursing Foundation of RI is located at 550 South Water Street, Corliss Landing, Providence, RI 02903. Further details on the Nursing Foundation are available at it's website at www.rinursingfoundation.org