The 2009 African-American Nursing History Conference at the University of Missouri–St. Louis won the Association for Continuing Higher Education Great Plains Region Exceptional Conference Award. The conference was founded in 2008 by Wilma Calvert, assistant professor of nursing at UMSL. Vanessa Loyd, assistant teaching professor of nursing at UMSL, chaired the conference in 2009 and is chairing the 2010 conference on Feb. 19. The award will be presented at the ACHE Great Plains Regional Conference on Feb. 25 in Kansas City, Mo.

“This very special event has provided the opportunity to learn about the many incredible contributions African-American nurses make to health and nursing care, and to bring us all together to talk about what we can do to foster cultural competence and eliminate the health disparities that exist in our world today,” said Julie Sebastian, dean of the College of Nursing at UMSL.  “This conference is remarkable in that it includes high school and university students, community members and practicing nurses, and faculty and staff members from nursing and a wide range of disciplines.”

The African-American Nursing History Conference is targeted for the community, especially nurses and other professionals in the health care field who are interested in the unique contributions that African-American nurses made in addressing health care disparities, health equity and health promotion through organizational community involvement.

The ACHE is an institution-based organization of colleges, universities and individuals dedicated to the promotion of lifelong learning and excellence in continuing higher education.

More information:
http://www.umsl.edu/~nursingweb/
http://www.acheinc.org/region/GreatPlains/
http://umslce.org/index.php/african-american-nursing-history-conference