Genesee Valley Nurses Association – May 2025

This month, during National Nurses Week, we were proud to host the Genesee Valley Nurses Association for a specialty tour exploring Susan B. Anthony’s connections to the field. The organization played a pivotal role in establishing a directory of nurses, a code of ethics, a path for education, and standards in the profession.

The GVNA played a key role in the origins of the American Nurses Association and was itself formed by members of the Monroe County Association of Registered Nurses. In 1902, the Armstrong Bill was passed in New York. According to a timeline published by GVNA:

This was Rochester’s history making event as [the bill] was designed by Rochesterians. The Armstrong Bill was introduced at a New York State Nurses Association meeting, held in Rochester. Its thrust was to place all schools of nursing under regulation of the University of the State of New York, which entailed administration of state examinations and registration of all nurse graduates of accredited schools of nursing. This design has served as a model for laws regulating nursing in other states.

The passage of the bill was spurred by a keynote speech given by Susan B. Anthony at that fateful meeting of the New York State Nurses Association on October 21, 1902.