Nursing Professional Association Membership Essay
Professional nursing organizations are crucial since they enable nursing professionals to participate in healthcare policy making, protect and present nurses’ interests, and provide nurses with chances for continuing education and as patient populations advocates. Professions in different industries help create professional cultures that help create ethos and values for its members. According to Meiring (2018), such professional cultures only become effective through the effort of the professional organizations to maintain and nurture them. Hence, all nursing professional organizations engage in various activities to meet their members’ interests. The paper will evaluate the American Nurses Association (ANA). The main assessment will be on the nursing organization and its benefit to nurses, networking opportunities and networking for members, ways to keep the members informed, and opportunities for professional development and continuing students.
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The Nursing Organization and the Benefit it has to Nurses
ANA is the premier organization that works for the plight of approximately 4 million nurses in the United States of America. The professional organization was created in 1896, and it has members from 50 U.S territories and states. ANA’s mission is to advance nurses’ professions to improve healthcare standards for all (ANA, n.d; -a). ANA’s main role to its members is to enhance the nursing profession by raising nursing practice standards, promoting a realistic and positive nursing understanding, honoring nurses’ rights, and ensuring that the regulatory agencies and Congress engage in healthcare policymaking processes. ANA also focuses on healthcare system reformation to ensure that the patient population’s needs and preferences are observed.
Registered nurses’ main benefits from joining the organizations are unparalleled professional development opportunities, support from national nurses, and the latest nursing news. As a nursing norm, the nursing practice needs dedication, but as an ANA member, one is assured of various rewards due to the members’ commitments. Some of these rewards include certification discounts which enable nurses under ANA to access these certifications without financial constraints. Compared to the unregistered nurses, the ANA registered nurses can easily participate in a policymaking, thus fulfilling their roles as patient advocates.
Importance of Networking in Nursing and ANA’s Networking Opportunities Creation
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Networking in nursing is an essential factor that helps nurses to be more engaged and involved in nursing practices. According to Meiring (2018), networking in nursing like one through webinars and different professional workshops is essential since they offer face-to-face interactions that enable potential employers to evaluate their energy physically. Also, it is through networking that nurses meet people with similar ambitions and struggles, thus enabling them to resonate and find solutions towards keeping up with the changing nursing realm (ANA, n.d; -a). ANA has various networking openings for its constituent and state nurses associations, thus being an appropriate chance for new graduates to join the ANA. That is because, being ANA members, the new graduate will need to attend meetings where they will make contact with future employers. Also, ANA encourages its members to join networking and committees within their hospital environment, which are essential for aiding in patient care problems and career advancement.
Ways to Keep the Members Informed
ANA works towards fighting for workplace social causes, advocacy, healthcare ethics, and human rights. ANA printed different journals, including the Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, American Nurse Today, and the American Nurse. Through these journals, ANA provides up-to-date news that is essential in ensuring that these new graduates and existing members will acknowledge current education and legislation practices, thus improving their care delivery. As a result, nurses can easily be part of the ANA’s articles publications though they have to ensure they are members.
Continuing Education and Professional Development Opportunities
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ANA enables its members to engage in continuing education since it does not only help the nurses to gain the best patient care but also enables them to advance their careers. As a result, ANA has various courses that the registered nurses can access that enable them to meet certification and licensure requirements and advance their professional careers. Some of the education topics within these courses include work environment, leadership, certification review, and organizational excellence (ANA, n.d; -b). For instance, the leadership and work environment topics are essential to the nursing professionals since they provide adequate knowledge of the most effective leadership style to help enhance nursing staff productivity and improve healthcare sustainability and competitiveness. Regarding professional development, ANA allows its members to collaborate with other nurses through the ANA Enterprise. Such collaboration will also be effective since it enhances the registered nurses’ resumes and collaboration with other United States colleagues. As a result, the nurses that want to share their knowledge in their various specialties will have a chance to become subject matter experts, thus shaping the development and delivery of educational programs and products.
Conclusion
The paper has evaluated the American Nurse Association (ANA) and its benefits to nurses. ANA serves over 14 million registered nurses and provides various opportunities to these nurse members like continuing education and advocating for their workplace plights. The ability of ANA to provide its members with continuing education does not only emphasize patient care since it opens opportunities for the nurses to collaborate with other nurses across the United States of America. Also, networking is an essential factor in nursing ANA helps its members network through various state and constituents committees and webinars where registered nurses, especially nursing graduates, can easily meet up with their future employers. ANA also ensures that its members are informed through journals and periodicals like the American Nurses Today.
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References
ANA (n.d;-a). About ANA. ANA Enterprise. https://www.nursingworld.org/ana/about-ana/
ANA (n.d;-b). Career and Professional Development. ANA Enterprise. https://www.nursingworld.org/resources/individual/
Meiring, A. (2018). The value of networking for professional nurses. Professional Nursing Today, 22(3), 2-2. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC-11b5dd5275
Describe the organization and its significance to nurses in the specialty area. Include its purpose, mission, and vision. Describe the overall benefits, or “perks,” of being a member.
Explain why networking is important for a nurse in this specialty field. Discuss how this organization creates networking opportunities for members.
Discuss how the organization keeps its members informed of health care changes and changes to practice that affects the specialty area.
Discuss opportunities the organization provides for continuing education and professional development.