American Nurses Association ( Ana )

enhance quality. Some of the nursing issues in health care reform are; access to care,

Nurses join professional nursing organizations to “have a voice in issues that affect nursing practice and to stay current in their field of specialty” (UC Davis Medical Center, 2016).

Thanks for sharing your thought during this week discussion. One thing I learned this week from this week assignment was the role and duties on the National League for Nursing (NLN). From this week discussion assignment I was able to discover that the NLN is dedicated to excellence in nursing. According to the Nick, Sharts-Hopko and Leners (2013). NLN is the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education (Nick, Sharts-Hopko & Leners, 2013).

The National League for Nursing (NLN), founded in 1893, was the first nursing organization in the United States (Overview, n.d.). Today, dedicated to excellence, the NLN long stands as the leading membership association for nurses and nursing education leaders (Overview, n.d.). The professional organization has over 40,000 members with dedication to “research, professional development, networking opportunities, and public policy initiatives (Overview, n.d.)”. The NLN’s core values are caring, integrity, diversity, and excellence (Overview, n.d.).

The National League for Nursing organization is “The Voice of Nursing Education”. Their mission is to promote excellence in nursing education to build a strong and diverse nursing workforce to advance the health of our nation and the global community (National League for Nursing). The National League for Nursing has been the premier organization for leaders in nursing education, nursing schools and nurse faculty, for more than 100 years. As of today, the organization consists of 40,000 individual and 1,200 institutional members with occupations from licensed practical nurses to doctorate education.

Solutions to nursing shortages that have emphasized increases in compensation or international recruitment are not expected to increase the supply of nurses over the long-term. This report addresses the inadequacies of institutions of higher education, noting that 75,587 qualified applicants were turned away from both undergraduate and graduate nursing programs in 2011 alone. Retention strategies are also addressed in this report, notably, the Nurse Reinvestment Act of 2002 and the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, but this legislation and investments by the States have had limited success. The report from the 2010 IOM/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Future of Nursing, emphasizes professionalization and advanced practice strategies to promote interest and status for practicing nurses. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) may bring about sea changes that

Throughout the nursing school, I have benefited enormously being a member of ANA by having free access to journals and publications to complete many papers and projects. Even after I graduated I still continued to be a member today, for all the great benefits you mentioned in your post. I would like to mention being an ANA member, also has many personal benefits such as discounts on insurance (professional liability, auto, long term care, term life, and even financial planning). As ANA states “who is taking care of you while you take care of others?”, it’s a great feeling for once to receive not just to give.

I agree with you that all states should have similar standards in providing licenses for healthcare professionals. Each state has different guidelines and requirements for nursing license. Some don’t even require CE’s for renewal, and some require certain number of practice hours within specified timeframe in addition to CE’s. I feel that continuing education provides us opportunities to acquire new skills and stay current with changes in the field. Each state must have unique need for the profession, and different political climate surrounds nurses. I believe that standardizing the licensure requirement will lead to higher quality of care and benefit patients.

The College of Nurses of Ontario’s mission statement is to “protect the public’s right to quality nursing services by providing leadership to the nursing profession in self-regulation” (CNO, 2012). The College of Nurses recognizes that self-regulation is a privilege granted by proving that they are capable of putting the interests of the public before their own. By establishing a number of requirements for entry to practice, articulating and promoting practice standards, administering quality assurance, and enforcing standards of practice and conduct, the College fulfills it’s

Nursing is a career that is rapidly changing. This makes it vital for nurses to stay updated on current research as well as engage in what is known as lifelong learning or professional development. The American Nurses Association has defined the concept as "learning activities designed to augment the knowledge skill and attitudes of nurses and therefore enrich the nurses' contributions to quality healthcare.” The benefits of continued education is so the nurse can provide safer care and increase patient outcomes. It also helps nurses promote their critical thinking skills, increase their knowledge and it contributes to their professional growth. I will most definitely take advantage of all the continuous learning opportunities that come along

Nursing and Nursing education has evolved tremendously through history. Many professional organizations directly influenced the practice of providing quality care to the public and propelled Nursing to the profession that it is today. Among these groups are the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN), American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), and Institute of Medicine (IOM). We will discuss how these three organizations have impacted nursing and the nursing education.

They help to establish accountability, and foster a voice that speaks to society on behalf of the profession. Nursing characteristics are discussed among the colleagues within the organization. They assist with advocacy for nurse and client needs, help to ensure that a healthy profession is maintained, and even help with establishing trust between the profession and society. Many organizations are geared towards a specialty focus within the profession, such as critical care or neonatal nursing, and help to enhance work within the specialty. The organizations help with educating society, administrators over healthcare, colleagues within the profession, and even those responsible for making policies on issues specific to the profession. The organizations offer a platform for unity, collaboration, networking, and support for the different specialty areas. They also help tackle and address the different issues that may affect nursing including political issues. The organizations have the ability to communicate with their members, which is a great benefit in helping nurses stay informed on the most current issues at hand. Nursing organizations also help with professional development by offering either discounted or free continuing education courses that provide the credits that nurses are required by the Board of Nursing to complete on a yearly basis. The need for nurses to understand and meet the many changes within society, the different cultures, and

Nurses are usually the most powerful people on earth, given the fact that they have a remarkable potential to exercise tremendous power both in the societal and political arenas. This power emanates from the great body of healthcare knowledge that they possess and in their large numbers. Contrary to this absolute fact, most nurses do not maximize this policy changing potential that they own. Regrettably, they view political activism not as power tool but as a barrier to the furtherance of their nursing profession. This emanates from the view that nursing is about application of service through actual involvements which politics does not entail (Rains and Barton-Kriese 219).

The purpose and effectiveness of a nursing organizations provide opportunity for nursing as a profession to impact nursing practice, health care policy, protect and educate nurses, and health care standards. According to Vioral (2011), there are multiple facets to these membership organizations that contribute to changes in the profession and in health care policy. Furthermore, participation in these organizations facilitates leadership development, collaboration, and networking opportunities for each member that potentially can result in career advancement. Individual membership in nursing associations also helps each nurse to be better informed about their specific practice area and the profession of nursing. For example, the American Association

One of the fastest growing fields in today’s economy is nursing. Nurses endorse overall good health, prevent disease, and treat patients with a range of medical conditions. Since nursing is a broad arena students that have earned a degree in nursing can purse many positions in an array of sectors. Some of the examples of this sectors are academics and research, government, military careers, public sector, and the private sector. Nurses who work in the academics and research study various characteristics of health, health care, and disease. Nurses in the academics and research seek ways to improve the nursing field. There are a lot of career options open for nurses in government organizations. There are many nurses employed at the Department