NATCHEZ — The Mississippi Nurses’ Association celebrates its centennial this year, and in honor of their 100th year, the association will return to Natchez — its birthplace.

Several special events are planned for their annual convention, which will take place Friday and Saturday.

“The convention will be beneficial for MNA in that our members will know how MNA originated and the history of MNA — we’re not just your typical nurses’ association,” MNA Events Coordinator Angela Weathersby said.

“A lot of people don’t realize that it was originated in Natchez.”

The Natchez Convention and Visitor’s Bureau is sponsoring the Friday night reception and the following cemetery tour, when MNA members will go to the Natchez City Cemetery to visit gravesites of medical professionals who played key roles in history, according to information Weathersby provided.

For example, MNA members will visit the grave of a Chinese doctor who was in Natchez when the yellow fever broke out.

Saturday, a city tour will cover historic sites such as the Natchez Charity Hospital — the hospital where the association was founded, according to information provided by the MNA. A Centennial Gala is planned for Saturday night.

“We’re going to have at least 75 in attendance for the reception,” Weathersby said. “For the rest, we’ll have maybe 50 or 60.”

The MNA hosts multiple annual conventions, such as the statewide nursing summit in January.

“(The summit) is geared toward nursing students,” Weathersby said. “It’s an event that schools them on what goes on in the legislature, laws and bills being passed.”

A conference for nurse practitioners takes place in April, and a conference in October sees attendees from across the nursing spectrum: students, registered nurses and nurse practitioners, Weathersby said.

MNA offers nurses of all ages continuing education through the year, she said, and the association also lobbies every year to get bills passed for nurses in the legislature.

“Through MNA you can get a credit card, insurance; we have networking for jobs and direct contact with the board of nursing,” Weathersby said.

MNA Marketing and Communications Director Betty Ruth Hawkins said Seetha Srinivasan, author of “A Way to Serve: The Mississippi Nurses’ Association 1911-2011,” will be available for book signings at the convention upon the release of her book.

“(Srinivasan’s) recounting of MNA’s 100 years tells a wonderful story of the pressures and obstacles nurses in the early 1900s faced … to protect the profession,” Hawkins said. “(The book) carries forward with spotlighting nurses who had an impact on the shaping of professional nurses in the state over these last 100 years.”

The book will be on sale for $27.95, she said, and it will be available in both independent and chain bookstores soon.

“We just want people to know what a renowned association MNA is, and that we do sincerely care about those in the nursing field,” Weathersby said. “We’re not amateurs at this — this is a historical association — for the purpose of nursing in Mississippi and to enhance nursing in Mississippi.

“We want people to know that we really do touch lives.”