By Kathy Gaillard
The Milwaukee Chapter National Black Nurses Association, Inc. is on a mission to reenergize the chapter and recruit more members. The Milwaukee Chapter affiliated with the National Chapter in 1981. The chapter’s President Edna Hudson-Kinzey, MSN Ed, RN, joined in 1993.
“I was a young nursing student when I first became a member, as part of the chapter’s scholarship program. I’ve lived in Milwaukee and been involved with the Black Nurses Association for 33 years so when I was asked to take over as president, I said yes,” said Edna Hudson-Kinzey.
She has worked in nursing for 27 years, primarily in the area of obstetrics. She now works as a traveling nurse where she is able to meet all types of people, from all walks of life.
“Being a traveling nurse gives me such a diverse experience. I also teach nursing in obstetrics, pediatrics, theory for clinical settings, caregiving, coaching, mentoring and pre-licensing classes,” said Hudson-Kinzey.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Hudson-Kinzey worked in three different states. She saw, first-hand, that exhaustion and perseverance became the norm for nurses and first-responders across the United States.
“As a traveling nurse, I was there to assist on behalf of all nurses out there on the front lines. All of us (nurses) came to work every day and did what we needed to do,” said Hudson-Kinzey.
The Covid-19 pandemic is not the first time that nurses stepped up to serve the community during a pandemic, particularly black and brown communities. In the 1800s there was a tuberculosis pandemic (sometimes referred to as ‘consumption’) that disproportionately affected Blacks in the United States. Under Marcus Garvey’s leadership, the Black Cross Nurses were founded to take care of and educate sick people in the community because white nurses and doctors refused to care for them.
During the Covid-19 pandemic nurses were so consumed with caring for covid-related illnesses, while continuing to care for other sick patients, that the Milwaukee chapter almost went dormant. On the heels of the nation returning to its new normal, Hudson-Kinzey is determined to revive and reenergize the Milwaukee chapter.
“We are going to love on our chapter and its members as we get back to the business of rebuilding from our 43-year old history. One of the first steps is making sure we begin to utilize social media platforms more frequently. We’re also reapplying for our nonprofit status, which with all that was going on, expired. We are reinstating ourselves in the state of Wisconsin.
“The Milwaukee Chapter National Black Nurses Association, Inc is an integral part of this community, and after we care for ourselves internally, my goal is for the chapter to work feverishly to get our members ready for 2024. This year we will be presenting a members’ call to action and honoring the achievements of founders, co-founders, and past chapter presidents. Some of our nurses have moved on to glory and we want to honor and recognize them. We are also gearing up for a scholarship run/walk on July 23, 2023, to let the members and the community know that we are back,” said Hudson-Kinzey.
We honor and salute all the caring and tireless commitment of our front-line workers, who went above and beyond to help us through the pandemic. Hudson-Kinzey, the Milwaukee Chapter National Black Nurses Association, Inc., and all nurses are not only heroes, but much needed diamonds in our communities.