“We are back on the scene – we never went away,” Kenya Haney said of the Black Nurses Association of Greater St. Louis, where she serves as president. “The black nurses have always been here, but we are back to help.”
Aging took its toll on the initial St. Louis chapter of the National Black Nurses Association, founded in 1972, which caused the chapter to dissolve in 2004, Haney said. It took 10 years and the zeal and commitment of old and new leadership to bring the chapter back together to advocate for health-care needs that directly affect minorities throughout the region and state. It is composed of registered nurses, LPNs, student nurses and retirees.
“People have been asking for it for some time,” Haney said. “We saw the need in our community.”
Haney works as director of Cardiology Services and Respiratory Care Services at Progress Hospital in O’Fallon and Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital. She leads and manages cardiac catheterization labs, cardiopulmonary rehab teams, invasive and non-invasive cardiology, and respiratory therapy teams at each location.
The association works on health policy, community health and scholarships.
“There is a true lack of advanced, prepared minority nurses – nurses who have their PhDs, their MSNs – and that impacts our nursing students and our next generation of leaders,” Haney said.
She is a strong advocate for nurses going back to school to get their master’s and doctorate.
“It’s great that you can become a nurse as an associate’s degree nurse, or a licensed practical nurse, but I also want us to teach and continue to climb and move, because they are looking for us,” Haney said.
“There is a true need for nursing faculty of all demographics, especially when it comes to minority populations and minority representation.”
Haney earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and a Master of Science in Nursing from University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. She is currently pursuing a doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Virginia.
She urged the public to seek preventive care, now accessible under the Affordable Care Act.
“This is something that so many organizations have wanted for so long, because if we can get our patients, regardless of race, to doctors and that yearly physical – get that blood draw, find out if there is anything that looks off – that is so imperative,” she said.
“One thing that any doctor, any nurse, hates to see is somebody come into the emergency room for something that we know could have been managed months before – weeks before – and we are seeing them in a crisis state.”
Haney is past president of the National Black Nurses Association and the National Student Nurses Association (NSNA). Haney served as a member of the American Nurses Association Congress on Nursing Practice and Economics and as trustee for the Missouri Nurses Foundation. Haney currently serves as vice president of the Foundation of the NSNA.
In the community, BNA of Greater St. Louis is involved in health fairs, expos, health screenings and educational forums. The front-line nursing organization also works with area first-responders in North St. Louis County. They partner with the Black Jack Fire Protection District, holding meetings in their space.
“I’ve personally worked with them to pass some initiatives,” Haney said, “and they are good colleagues and allies in taking care of the community in North County.”
The association educates and lobbies to reduce health disparities among underserved communities. It advocates for legislative passage of Medicaid expansion in Missouri and for more mental health services.
“I think about mental health services that continue to be reduced and how this impacts our black nurses and how it impacts our African-American population” Haney said. “And I know there is a huge stigma in the African-American community about mental health, but we desperately need it. I worry about our access to health care.”
You can find the Black Nurses Association of Greater St. Louis on Facebook and at its website at http://www.bnastlouis.org.
