Exploring Life & Business with Shnea Weatherspoon of Black Nurses Society Cleveland

Hi Shnea, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
Black Nurses Society (BNS) Cleveland was established in October 2020; we’re a dedicated group of nurses supporting one another and promoting initiatives to serve the most underserved communities. We believe in taking action with urgency in order to raise public awareness about some of the most pressing health issues facing our community.

Our mission is to “To empower our fellow nurses and educate our vulnerable communities on health disparities while inspiring and uplifting one another.”

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We really have not had any struggles. I think the only struggle we have had was getting our name known in the community. BNS Cleveland at times is confused with other minority nursing organizations. We want people to recognize our organization in the community because we have been able to partner with many local and other non-profit organizations. We continue to educate our communities on health disparities, especially during Covid 19; we were able to educate the communities on Covid 19 pandemic and participate in vaccination clinics.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We are a nurse’s association that includes members that are LPN, RN with associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees. We also have a number of nurse practitioners and a midwife that is part of our organization. Our members specialized in all areas of nursing that includes nursing education, hospice, women health, intensive care, surgical nurses, geriatric nurses, and behavioral health nurses. What sets us apart from other nursing organizations is that we focus on health disparities that are affecting our local communities, such as heart disease, cancer, infant mortality. We want the members to know that we are here to participate in community events to help educate our communities, we offer nursing scholarships, and we mentor nursing students and fellow nurses.

What does success mean to you?
Success is when you are happy with yourself and the services that you are offering to others.