G3 & The NBNA Take Chi Town

My fourth conference and the NBNA’s (National Black Nurses Association) 50th national conference (round of applause for that)  took place in Chicago, Illinois. This was a very special conference for me and the organization. Fifty years is a MAJOR milestone and celebrating all that the organization has done in the community and for the nursing profession as a whole for minority nurses was a must that I could not miss. I also just became a lifetime member , so the NBNA & I are tied together for life ! My man also came (eeoooww), so I loved that he was able to see another side to my profession. My sister, her boo, and my nanny all decided to come as well, so it the whole fam was running around the city. Chicago has also been on my list of places to visit, so it was a perfect excuse for my first visit to Chi Town.

Most conferences are much more work than play for me, but this one was equal parts work and play. I told myself I was going to stand my ground and not be suckered into anything extra lol. My itinerary was set and I was sticking to it. Once I arrived at the hotel for registration and check-in, I knew it was going to be great ! It was downtown and to my surprise Lollapalooza would be taking place right across the street. My love bug immediately got our day passes for Saturday. It looked as though I was in for a week of very little sleep.

So do y’all want the business or the fun first ?!

Lets get into the conference ! The conferences are jam packed with informational sessions and institutes ranging from clinical research, men’s health, workplace bullying, and diabetes to women’s health, HIV, COVID19, mentoring , and leadership development with a little gospel aerobics mixed in to start your mornings off right. The breakfast sessions and gospel aerobics are held a little too early for me to partake (06:30), but hey ! It’s there if that’s how you roll. Many of the sessions also offer CE credits for participating. I’m sure some may be a bit on the boring end, but I personally participated in ‘Developing and Diversifying The Entry Level Workforce’, ‘VITAS Healthcare Masterclass : Becoming A Great Leader In a New Era’, and ‘Sickle Cell Disease Therapeutic Overview’ that were extremely engaging all while providing a wealth of knowledge. The Masterclass on leadership gave great insight from great leaders - Kristopher T. Halsey , PhD, Ottamissiah “Missy” Moore, BS, RN, and Beverly Morgan, BS, LPN - on how to be a great leader and what traits a great leader should possess. While these leaders may not be flashy or the instagram nurses we see, they are real and gangsta nurses doing the work in the community, mentoring (for free might I add), and advocating for the profession. No one ‘type’ of nurse is better, just different paths and different methods. I feel privileged to see all those on the nurse spectrum. This was just another example of why I chose nursing as well - there are so many paths you can take with this degree. Now my other session came with the stats that I already suspected, yet was still shocked to hear. I am quite vocal about my desire to leave the bedside ASAP and most nurses I know feel the same, but the statistics were staggering showing  a ‘hospital turnover rate of 91.6% for new nurses with less than two years of service there’ (NSI National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report 2021). I do not have any solutions because it’s just a mess at these facilities and I’m ready to go myself, but  WOW ! There is a specialty in nursing for everybody, but it seems the bedside is not appealing or worth the stress for most. Moving from all the educational sessions, we had award ceremonies highlighting nurses and the exemplary work they do, scholarship giveaways, galas where we dance the night away, and luncheons and brunches with terrible food (if we keeping it G). Outside of the tangible things, the reason myself and so many nurses come back is because of the intangibles we receive from the conference - the energy ,camaraderie, culture, and relighting that dwindling flame to keep going despite the stress and toll it takes on us because what we do is vital.

Y’all ready for the fun (if you’re still with me lol )? Me too! I don’t know what I expected, but Chicago has a ton of things to do, restaurants to eat at, bars/lounges to drink, and museums to explore. Our first Chicago experience was a rooftop bar, the IO Godfrey, at the Godfrey hotel for happy hour. It was all the aesthetics I needed with some tasty sliders and a frose’ I was too scared to finish. The first night I must have hit all the bar/lounge highlights. They were all truly a vibe with various entertainment (some good and some absolutely soulless) and extremely overpriced drinks. A few of my favorites were ‘Untitled’, ‘Celeste’, and ‘Underground’.  The next morning my baby took us out of the tourist area and into Chicago Chicago for brunch and ‘real food’ per him. We headed into a black owned establishment called ‘Truth’s Italian Restaurant’ (don’t ask me why). The food was DELICIOUS - waffles, lamb, eggs, and grits ! No drinks, but it was BYOB, so of course we found a liquor store down the street where we scored some laughs, shared wild nights, Korbel, and a lottery ticket for the mega million. I was not the jackpot winner out of Illinois, but I did win $4 ! If we are looking at the glass half full, I did win and God definitely answered my prayers…in a way lol. I'll be more specific next time. We also had to try a classic Chicago deep-dish pizza , so we went to the highly recommended Lou Malnati’s. Personally, it wasn’t my jam. It was good, but I may just like the fake s**t. I wanted Papa Johns so badly after a few bites of the deep-dish. I also went to my now favorite museum - The WNDR Museum. It was so fun and interactive; I did not have a single boring moment.

Okay, stay with me here. We are almost done !

The architecture tours on Lake Michigan is a must-see. Their skyline isn’t Dubai or anything, but it is truly top tier. They have several tour boats, but I’d recommend the sailboat even though you may not get as much architecture history as others. Ending my Friday night seeing the sunset against that skyline on the water was stunning. It was the calm before the storm I needed because Lollapalooza was INSANE ! I must have done about 4 outfit changes going back and forth between my conference obligations and the festival throughout the day before finally ending it at the President’s Gala. Let me just say that these young kids go HARD. I mean I saw so many boots and teens limping for blocks with blood seeping out of their leg wrap (gotta be drugs). The rest of the trip was catered to finding the black people and thankfully we found success at a couple bars turned brunch day parties. Before I wrap this up I have to plug Meli’s for breakfast too. Breakfast tacos were so good they had me dreaming about them.

This trip was truly great on all levels. I got everything I needed from my nursing colleagues and did not miss a beat with experiencing Chicago for the first time. Aside from the fun, I do believe that professional organizations are important. If giving back to the community is  meaningful to you I highly recommend the NBNA . If anybody wants more information or would like to join comment or email me !

As always…

Keep It G

Genuine, Godly, and Gangsta