The National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) released a statement regarding the association’s decision to pull its 2024 Conference out of Florida.
Following a survey of our membership, today the National Black Nurses Association, Inc (NBNA) is publicly announcing its decision to move its 52nd Institute and Conference, originally scheduled to be held at the Diplomat Beach Resort (A Hilton Branded Property) in Hollywood, Florida from July 24th – 28th, 2024 to San Francisco, California from July 23 – 28, 2024.
Our primary reason for this cancellation and move is our duty to ensure the safety and well-being of NBNA members, given the current political and social climate in Florida. The passage of anti-Black policies and laws, which have taken a destructive position to erase and silence Black history and restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools, together with the NAACP travel ban and the recent senseless, racially motivated, hate-fueled murders of three innocent Black Americans in Jacksonville, Florida has created a hostile, dangerous environment in the state. Thus, as a Black-identified multigenerational professional nursing association, we cannot risk the safety or well-being of our members or subject them to unpredictable, unknown, and unconscionable threats to their life, liberty, and First Amendment rights. Also, policies, politics, and hostility perpetuated upon Black-identified and other marginalized peoples are in direct conflict with the NBNA mission and vision. Finally, as a member-driven association dedicated to uplifting and preserving life, our membership was resolute in this decision.
Our attempts in good faith to negotiate with the hotel property in Florida to reschedule our conference to a later year when the conditions would hopefully be safer for Black-identified groups like ours were unsuccessful. This would have avoided a huge cancelation fee, which NBNA will now have to adjudicate.
However, NBNA reaffirms its dedication to working tirelessly to fight social injustice in all its forms. We must develop tangible and practical ways to shift the path of this country toward the achievement of health equity for all Black communities. We join with other organizations and healthcare partners, imploring legislators to take urgent action to remove any laws that harm people and, most notably, those that intentionally, with hate and malice, plan the demise of persons based on their race. NBNA will unrelentingly advocate for policies so everyone can enjoy the privileges of public activities such as learning, worshipping, jogging, attending concerts, and shopping without the fear of being injured or murdered.
Lastly, we recognize the economic, political, and personal impacts that this decision will have on our association and local communities in Florida. Thus, we want to affirm the support of our ten NBNA chapters in Florida and the communities they serve. These chapters will continue their work to improve the lives of historically underserved and marginalized populations in Florida in keeping with our mission.
The National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) is honored to celebrate Black History Month with the Black Nurse Leaders Series 2022 initiative. This effort highlights healthcare leaders who are prominent figures in their organizations and making transformational impacts in the field of nursing.
16 honored executives will be featured during the month of February.
NBNA President Dr. Martha A. Dawson leadership quote.
“There is no denying, at this time in history, nurses are leading the way in healthcare and our country,” stated NBNA President Dr. Martha A. Dawson. “This is an optimal time to share insights from experienced top professionals in the field who can deliver thoughtful messages and inspire the next generation of black nurses. It is also very important to highlight prominent Black nurse leaders in this country who represent them. NBNA is ecstatic to share a stellar panel of professionals to honor Black History Month 2022!”
16 Nurses who will be featured during the month are:
Dr. Martha A. Dawson, President and CEO, National Black Nurses Association
Dr. Debra A. Toney, President, National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Nurse Associations
Dr. Dora Clayton-Jones, President, International Association of Sickle Cell Nurses and Professional Associates
Dr. Sarah Killian, National President, Chi Eta Phi Nursing Sorority, Inc.
Dr. Millicent Gorham, Executive Director, National Black Nurses Association
Dr. Ernest Grant, President, American Nurses Association
Dr. Lindsey Harris, President, Alabama State Nurses Association
Dr. Barbara Hatcher, President, Chi Eta Phi Education Foundation, Inc.
Patricia Lane, President-elect, American Association of Neuroscience Nurses
Dr. Beverly Malone, CEO, National League for Nursing
Donna Mazyck, CEO, National Association of School Nurses
Ottamissiah Moore, President, National Alliance of Wound Care and Ostomy
Dr. Tonya Moore, Executive Director, Mississippi Nurses Association
Beverly Morgan, President, Lambda Psi Nu Nursing Sorority, Inc.
Dr. Linda Scott, President-elect, American Academy of Nursing
Dr. Danielle McCamey, Founder, CEO & President, DNPs of Color
To view the full panel of featured nurse leaders and their background, go here. We encourage everyone to follow NBNA on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to stay connected.
NBNA is currently accepting applications for membership. To become a member, go here for more information.
The National Black Nurses Association is pleased to announce Ena Williams, MBA, MSM, BSN, RN, CENP, of Yale New Haven Hospital and Otis Rolley of The Rockefeller Foundation as the official keynote speakers for the 49th Annual Institute and Conference to be held virtually on August 4-8, 2021. The theme of this year’s conference is “Celebrating 50 Years of Innovative Community Service, Practice, Education, and Research in Nursing.”
Otis Rolley is the Senior Vice President, U.S. Equity and Economic Opportunity Initiative (US EEO) at The Rockefeller Foundation. Recognizing low wage workers as essential, even prior to COVID-19, Otis is directing all U.S. work focused on enhancing the ability of every working person to meet the basic financial needs of their family and have a path to a better future. With a focus on equity, Otis provides stewardship for U.S. grant making and investing that is aligned to strategic levers to fill key economic opportunity gaps in tax and budget policy design and implementation; access to capital and asset ownership; and worker coalition-building and advocacy.
Immediately prior to joining the Foundation in 2019, Otis served as a North America Managing Director for 100 Resilient Cities, a major project sponsored by The Rockefeller Foundation. There he provided urban resilience (economic, environmental Sustainability and community development) technical assistance and portfolio management for 29 cities throughout the U.S. and Canada. A true urbanist, Otis’ career has been dedicated to advancing equity, economic and community development in cities, and leading organizations in the for-profit, public, and non-profit sectors.
Opening Ceremony and 50th Anniversary Celebration: Equity First: Prioritizing People in Covid Testing & Vaccination
Thursday, August 5
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Ena Williams, MBA, MSM, BSN, RN, CENP, is the Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at Yale New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut – a 1541 bed ANCC 3-time Magnet ® designated, level I trauma, academic medical center. She has oversight of nearly 6000 nurses and clinical staff, with responsibility for practice, quality, workforce, nursing resources, patient experience and general operations. Ena assumed the role of chief nursing officer in 2018 and has since led the team through an ANCC accreditation of the Vizient Nurse Residency Program in 2018 which was recognized with 12 best practices. As CNO, she also led the team through the COVID-19 pandemic, leading clinical and operational teams across the health system, and caring for nearly 7000 COVID patients. Most recently she led the team through their 3rd Magnet designation.
Closing Keynote: Addressing Health Equity through Innovative Nursing Leadership
Sunday, August 8
10:00 am to 11:00 am
About the Virtual 49th Annual Institute and Conference
Expecting more than 500 nurses and nursing students to attend the conference, registration is now underway. To register for the virtual conference, members and nonmembers go here. More information about the conference and detailed agenda is located at https://www.nbna.org/conf.
The conference will provide the opportunity for attendees to receive up to 35 contact hours and attend two days of NBNA workshops, mentorship sessions, Under 40 events, development programs, lunch and learns, and so much more!
Conference Objectives:
• Discuss the importance of a nurse’s ability to be resilient and practice self-care.
• Discuss disruptive trends in health care delivery and inequity in healthcare.
• Examine emerging opportunities for transforming the future of nursing through innovative
nursing/interdisciplinary practice, education, research, and policy advocacy.
• Identify new models of care to reduce inequities in health care and improve health outcomes for minority and underserved communities.
To join the conversation on social media, follow NBNA on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook and use the hashtags #NBNACelebrates50Years, #NBNAResilient, #NBNAConference21.
About the National Black Nurses Association
Founded in 1971, the National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) is a professional organization representing 308,000 African American registered nurses, licensed vocational/practical nurses, and nursing students in 108 chapters and 34 states. The NBNA mission is “to serve as the voice for Black nurses and diverse populations ensuring equal access to professional development, promoting educational opportunities and improving health.” NBNA chapters offer voluntary hours providing health education and screenings to community residents in collaboration with community-based partners, including faith-based organizations, civic, fraternal, hospitals, and schools of nursing. For more information, visit nbna.org. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter! #NBNAResilient, #NBNACelebrates50Years, #NBNAConference21
Media Contact:
Keisha Ricks, NBNA Marketing and Communications Manager [email protected]
“The brain controls everything,” says longtime neuroscience nurse Patricia Lane, MBA, BSN, SCRN, FAAN. “Neuroscience is the top of the top.”
Lane, president elect of the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses and past second vice president of the National Black Nurses Association, says she didn’t plan on a career in neuroscience nursing. She followed her love of science into the field of biology and into the lab, but the long days behind a microscope didn’t meet her career expectations.
“I did the lab thing for eight months and then went to nursing right away,” she says. Her background still fuels her passion for everything she does in her nursing work. “In nursing I am using art and science. I get intrigued by looking at COVID and the dynamics of that piece. Using my science and nursing backgrounds, I see how it all works.”
After nursing school, Lane’s first job was in a neuro NICU, she says, an option that really isn’t open to new nurses today and was a rarity when she began. “It was unheard of for a new grad to go into ICU,” she says. “They put us in with the residents and fellows so we would have knowledge of the brain. Since then, I have always been a neuro girl.”
One of those early experiences really highlighted the resiliency of the brain and completely hooked Lane on working with neuro patients. As she was working at a clinical in the operating room, Lane says she was so fascinated by the brain surgery going on that she asked to stay for the whole procedure, long past the required hours for the day. “I had the patient the next day,” she recalls, and it was incredible for her to see how people recover and how the brain adapts.
As patients recover, Lane knows the empathy and precise care they need. “It’s an art, science, and a craft,” she says of the complex neuroscience nursing it takes to guide neuro patients through their recovery. “They need to take it one day at a time. It’s a journey and it takes time.” It also takes a village and neuro nurses are looking for ways to help families through such a complex process as well.
Lane says she can’t emphasize enough the importance of joining a professional organization, especially for anyone interested in neuroscience nursing. As a neuroscience nurse, she says, there is so much new science emerging around the brain, that nurses need resources to stay current. “I believe neuro is the only service line that touches every other service line,” she says. So whether a nurse is looking at a a more specific specialty such as stroke, Parkinson’s, or migraine, as Lane does, there are all other areas of the body to consider. “I can text someone [from a professional network] and ask, ‘What are you doing on the West Coast for this?’”
With so many professional organizations devoted to nurses, Lane says they also give minority nurses an essential professional relationships. “Diversity is so important in nursing,” she says. “We need to understand different perspectives and experiences.” In some areas, there may be a dozen languages that need translation on any given day, and families who need to speak with someone who can help them. If there are only nurses who speak English, a big piece of care is missing. Professional organizations help build those connections. “You have resources around you and it’s very collaborative,” Lane says. “Neuro is small and you can see a professional network as a helping hand.”
The COVID-19 pandemic is something neuro nurses are seeing as the tip of the iceberg right now. Next year will be interesting for neuro, she says, as the longer term impacts of COVID on the brain may begin to emerge. But the foundational science behind neuroscience care will still apply. “We can figure out how to help if you are in a brain fog,” she says. “There’s rehab or cognitive brush ups or drills. People need to be mindful, pause, and not multitask. It uses so much more energy to do that—and that intrigues me.”
Lane has long focused on stroke care, but she says she’s becoming more interested in epilepsy. “There are so many specialties within the neuro specialty,” she says. “I want to always learn something different. It helps to keep your own brain engaged and to learn something new. I am learning more about epilepsy and the more we can know and share, the better.”
As neuroscience nurses advance in their careers, they are also excellent advocates and mentors for younger nurses . “I am helping new nurses in the field and helping the community understand neuroscience,” she says. “We need to keep talking about it. The sky is the limit. This is truly a calling for me.”
NEW YORK, Dec. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) is excited to announce the launch of two new major campaigns for its members under its new wellness initiative, NBNA Resilient Nurse Resource™. RETHINK, launched yesterday, was created to build awareness around the importance of vaccinations, with a focus on influenza and pneumococcal. The goal of RETHINK is to debunk common myths surrounding vaccines and to inform Black nurses and the Black community on the benefits of vaccinations. The website features an interactive ‘Test Your Flu IQ’ quiz to test participants knowledge and understanding on the flu and vaccines. There is also a flu and pneumococcal vaccination locator to assist with identifying providers in nearby serving areas. Anyone interested in learning more about vaccines can visit www.nbnaRETHINK.com.
On December 15, 2020, the NBNA will also launch its mental wellness campaign, RE:SET. This new initiative offers members FREE counseling services, education webinars, wellness podcasts and more, to aid them in maintaining their mental wellness throughout the current COVID-19 crisis. The free counseling services are only available for existing and new NBNA members, and their families.
Unfortunately, there is a stigma in the Black community surrounding mental health. This, in addition to the lack of providers from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds and culturally competent providers, contributes to only one-in-three African Americans receiving mental health treatment.
To provide the best patient care, nurses must be able to reset and recharge from the daily pressures and renew their resilience and strength. Creating tools for renewal and increased resilience is especially important as nurses have a high prevalence of anxiety and depression. With this comprehensive resource, NBNA members will receive holistic tools and resources designed to give nurses the boost they need to promote mental wellness and wellbeing.
“We know how difficult this year has been for nurses everywhere, especially Black nurses who are faced with both the pandemic and the current racial uprising,” states Dr. Martha A. Dawson, NBNA President. “It is crucial that we protect our nurses’ physical and mental wellbeing during such an unprecedented time in our country. With RE:SET we are able to provide them with the tools necessary to recover from the daily stresses of exhausting working conditions and challenges. It is essentially PPE for their mental and emotional health, which will help to impact their physical health.”
RE:SET provides NBNA members and their families with easily accessible options for mental wellness – including:
RE:SET Support Line: Available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, members who need in-the-moment support, are connected with licensed clinicians for no-cost, confidential guidance and resources.
Free, Confidential Counseling: The RE:SET program provides up to five free sessions with experienced and licensed clinicians. This service removes the cost, access and privacy hassles of getting professional emotional support when NBNA members face a problem or situation that is difficult to resolve.
Text Coach®: Also known as ‘text therapy’ is available to NBNA members via mobile phone or desktop computer to help with non-acute concerns. Licensed clinicians will help nurses and their families boost emotional fitness and wellbeing by exchanging text messages, voice notes, tip sheets, videos and resource links.
To learn more about the RE:SET FREE tools and other resources, visit, www.nbna.org on December 15th.
To become a member of the National Black Nurses Association and to gain access to the FREE counseling services, visit www.nbna.org.
About National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) Founded in 1971, the National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) is a professional organization representing 308,000 African American registered nurses, licensed vocational/practical nurses, and nursing students in 108 chapters and 34 states. The NBNA mission is “to serve as the voice for Black nurses and diverse populations ensuring equal access to professional development, promoting educational opportunities and improving health.” NBNA chapters offer voluntary hours providing health education and screenings to community residents in collaboration with community-based partners, including faith-based organizations, civic, fraternal, hospitals, and schools of nursing. For more information, visit nbna.org. #NBNAResilient
