Last week, the Stressed Out Nurses Team headed to Kansas City for the 25th National Student Nurses Association MidYear Convention. About 1,500 student nurses, nursing faculty, and other administrators were greeted by about 130 exhibitors giving away free pens, water bottles, candy, calculators, and, of course, T-shirts. Did you miss out on all the fun? Was it too far to travel? Did classes get in the way? Well, we’re going to give you a run down of the highlights from Kansas City and a chance to win one of those T-shirts.

First, let’s lay out what we had going on in our Stressed Out booth. We gave away more than 700 Quick-E! clinical pocket guides. The Med-Surg title was the most popular, disappearing in an hour or so. The Peds, Critical Care, and Assessment titles weren’t far behind. The last Quick-E! handed out was a Charting one about an hour before the exhibit hall closed down on day two. (At the end of this article, we’ll be giving away one more!)

We handed out 600 T-shirts that we hope will make our mascot “Fran” (short for “Frantic”) a star on college campuses across the country. We also featured a demonstration of our Web site, www.StressedOutNurses.com, and talked up our upcoming title, Stressed Out About Pharmacology.

So, what about Kansas City itself?

Despite the expensive cab rides, it’s a great place to visit. Here are some highlights:

• Chow down. The food at Arthur Bryant’s–located in a section of town that was, well, interesting–was excellent. The pulled pork was outstanding, the fries were delicious, and there was enough Kansas City memorabilia on the walls to fill a museum. The barbeque sauce was tangy, a bit hot, playful, and pleasantly coated your throat on the way down.
• Shop ’til you drop? The shopping in the Crown Center had lots to offer. Then again, the amount of free stuff from the convention made actually buying anything just a passing thought. Maybe next time.
• Good, old Midwestern hospitality. People were friendly wherever you went. Whether you were in a cab, grabbing a bite to eat, or just passing someone on the street, phrases like “Sir” and “Ma’am” weren’t hard to find.
• Fantastic fruit cups. Starting the day with a morning fruit cup from the Starbucks in the Hyatt couldn’t be topped. The blackberries were delicious, the raspberries were delectable, and the pineapple was just right. Kudos.
• Go downtown. The main downtown area at the plaza-filled with shops and restaurants-was as good as advertised. Everything you could possibly want was just a stone’s throw away.
• Sunny days. The weather was beautiful. On the final two days of the convention, Friday and Saturday, sunny and 60+ was the norm.

Okay, okay, now on to the free stuff. For a chance to win a free Quick-E! book or a free Stressed Out T-shirt, answer these two trivia questions about Kansas City to be entered into our drawing. Just send your responses to editor Mike Briddon at mbriddon@hcpro.com.

For a book: What year did the Kansas City Royals win the World Series?
For a T-shirt: What is the average annual snowfall in Kansas City?

Good luck!