UofL News: When did the local National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) chapter begin?

Vicki Hines-Martin: The original KYANNA Black Nurses Association of Louisville started in 1986 as a local organization whose membership were interested black nurses in Jefferson County or southern Indiana. I was a faculty member at Jefferson Community College when we began. The current KYANNA Black Nurses Association of Louisville became an affiliate chapter of the National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) in 1994.

UofL News: Describe the climate at the time and the impetus for starting this organization.

Vicki Hines-Martin: As with many community settings and among health care, there was little focus on minority populations’ needs or an understanding of the importance of diversity within the health care industry. I frequently brought attention to these absences and the impact on health care outcomes. I was one of very few African Americans throughout college and during my early career as a clinician or educator. I felt isolated and wanted to know if others also felt that, so I invited AA nurses I knew to a meeting at my house and discussed their experiences and explored their interest in forming an organization to educate other nurses and provide mutual support. It grew from there over the years. I was the first president and other committed nurses followed.

UofL News: How has the KYANNA Black Nurses Association of Louisville supported nurses of color throughout the years?

Vicki Hines-Martin: We have always provided support through our annual conferences in the past and later through the more recent gala events. During those events, we provided professional development, recognized excellence among our membership and provided scholarships for nursing students who applied for funding to continue their education in nursing (from LPN through PhD). Over the years KYANNA has provided almost 50 scholarships.

UofL News: The National Black Nurses Association this year celebrates 50 years at the upcoming annual conference in Chicago, July 26 – 31. Several UofL nursing faculty and students will be in attendance. What does it mean for our students to be a part of this historic celebration?

Vicki Hines-Martin: I am certain that students will be excited to see and hear the history of black nurses and their contributions to the advancement of healthcare in the United States. Many nurses they have read about will be present and NBNA is noted for its welcoming and inclusive activities for all attendees, especially the students. This attitude lays a foundation for students to be attracted to membership in a professional organization that reflects their experiences and their future goals. They will have the opportunity to network and meet other students who will later become colleagues. Although they might not fully understand the historic nature of this year’s conference, over time it will be an experience they will reflect on and have greater appreciation for their involvement this event.

UofL News: What do you hope will be the future of the local NBNA chapter?

Vicki Hines-Martin: I am hopeful that the organization will continue to be active in the community, provide mutual support and recognition for nurses of color and to increase its ability to provide financial and mentoring support for future nurses and those who are advancing their educations. Through all these activities, KYANNA will continue to build a solid reputation as a professional organization that is one exemplar of the best in nursing.

UofL News: Anything else you’d like to share?

Vicki Hines-Martin: I’m very proud of the organization and although I won’t be able to attend the convention, it gives me great joy to know that UofL nursing faculty and our students will be a part of this historic event and will represent UofL, KYANNA, and myself as well as other nurses in our community very well.

The awarded Montanez Chatman the Lynn Edwards Research Scholarship, and she will be honored at a ceremony Aug. 4 during the organization’s annual conference in St. Louis. 

“This award recognizes the potential I have to make an important contribution to improving the health of our community and will help me develop into a nurse leader,” Montanez Chatman said.

While working as a floor nurse at several hospitals, Montanez Chatman saw that culturally-sensitive nursing care was lacking.

Increasing diversity in the nursing workforce will improve the profession’s ability to serve vulnerable and minority populations using culturally and socially-appropriate prevention strategies to improve health outcomes, she said.

Montanez Chatman is piloting a research project to identify and describe cultural, social and scholastic factors influential to a post-secondary nursing program as perceived by a sample of underserved and minority students in a high school pre-nursing program. The findings will serve as a basis for an intervention study focused on high school students interested in nursing, which will be her dissertation. 

As the first UofL Health and Social Justice Scholar from the School of Nursing, Montanez Chatman helped launch a diversity summit in 2017 for minority high school students interested in health professions. The event has grown to include undergraduate students, providing them information and tools to succeed in professional and graduate school admissions processes.

Earlier this year, Montanez Chatman earned a scholarship from Jonas Philanthropies, an initiative aimed at curbing the national nursing faculty shortage by supporting doctoral students with leadership development and networking opportunities.

Vaden, a women’s health nurse practitioner who received her BSN from the University of Louisville School of Nursing in 2006, will speak at the KYANNA Black Nurses Association of Louisville’s 2016 Annual Scholarship and Leadership Conference, which takes place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 9 at Crowne Plaza Hotel, 830 Phillips Lane.

The conference will focus on women’s health issues and Vaden will speak about prevention, detection and treatment of the human papillomavirus, the most common sexually-transmitted infection in the United States.

HPV is so common that almost all sexually-active men and women get the virus at some point in their lives, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 80 million people have HPV, and about 14 million new infections occur annually.

“A lot of women don’t realize HPV is sexually transmitted,” said Vaden, DNP, APRN, assistant professor of nursing at Bellarmine University. “It can be prevented and detected early and there are treatment options, but a lot of women aren’t aware of this.”

The CDC recommends children ages 11 and 12 receive vaccinations against HPV. An infected person can spread the virus even when he or she shows no symptoms.

Vaden frequently treats women with HPV. In most cases, the virus goes away on its own without causing health problems, but it puts women at risk for cervical cancer.

Kentucky has one of the highest rates of HPV-associated cervical cancer in the country, according to the CDC, and there is disparity in how the virus affects different races. Across the country, black and Hispanic women have higher rates of HPV-associated cervical cancer than other ethnicities and black women also have higher rates of HPV-associated vaginal cancer, according to the CDC.

Vaden attributes this to a lack of knowledge about the virus and poor access to health care, which has begun to improve since the Affordable Care Act took effect.

“Most young women don’t have candid conversations with their doctors,” Vaden said. “I think for African-American women, they would love to have medical care from another African-American woman who can understand some of the things they go through from a cultural perspective.”

Other speakers at KYANNA’s conference include Jessica Dowe, a family physician and graduate of UofL’s School of Medicine, and the Rev. Yvonne McCoy, founder of The Transformation Institute, an integrative medicine practice that provides holistic healing sessions.