What in the world does the ANA do?

My question is have you been an active member (going to meetings and serving on committees???) to work for change in areas that you as a professional perceive to be a problem?

My question is have you been an active member (going to meetings and serving on committees???) to work for change in areas that you as a professional perceive to be a problem?

If you really want to know what the ANA and the INA don't do, treat yourself one day and go see the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation Nursing Board. They generally meet the first Friday of the month and alternate Springfield and Chicago. I went on March 2, 2007 in Chicago. I have never seen a group of people who just keep telling each other how smart they are and how they all have the most perfect answer to every nursing dilemma. The fact that nursing will not exist the way it does today seems to completely escape them. I don’t think they have any idea about the tremendous negative impact they are having across the state and nationally. I believe the AMA is getting our house in order because they are getting increasingly tired of how nursing is failing at the bedside. Med's aren’t passed on time, patients aren’t getting the care they need, and orders are left in the chart because no one is there to take them off. While writing the LPN curriculum I chose two books for nursing fundamentals, I could not find one reference about pacemakers; not in the index, glossary of terms, review of the cardiac system, surgical nursing – NO WHERE. What happened, I know I went to nursing school a long time ago but really!!! Nurses are not learning about medicine, we have our own ways to diagnose our patience and apparently it has nothing to with those damn doctors!!! Why do we need to compare ourselves to doctors? This is what the ANA and the INA have done for us. Most of my friends that are doctors say nurses today don’t know what they’re doing, and they are right and I found out why as I wrote the curriculum. Nursing books and instructors aren’t supposed to teach them the medical model, we teach the nursing model. If someone could help me understand this shift I will be more than appreciative. I was under the seriously wrong belief that differential diagnosing is a great way not to miss something that is going on with your patient. The way I was taught so as to not miss anything going on with your patient is to start with rule out not rule in. We as human beings are, and don’t be shocked, prejudiced. Once we have something in our head, we will start finding evidence to support our conclusions. For example, politics; statement one I hate George Bush – I will then watch the news, read papers, listen to others and start filling putting together the things I hear, read and/or see to support the conclusion I want, throughout the day I will find enough evidence to say, “see he is a bad person and a terrible president.” With statement two being I love George Bush, I will now go about seeing, reading and hearing all the same information but now I will pick out only the things support my conclusion that he is the great person and a great president. If I use this model to find out what is wrong with the patient I am likely to miss something, possibly a big something. Now if you diagnose by ruling things out you are far less likely to miss anything. You are no longer tied to a diagnosis and you can go through systems looking for the problem and whatever is left – is what is wrong. Yet, guess what, we nurses decided we know more so we won’t fall into those pitfalls that seem to draw every other person in the world into. We are better than that. Someone needs to tell the Departments of Professional Regulations throughout America that no matter what, we are still “only” the nurse. (Don’t yell at me for that one) We can’t come up with a medical diagnosis and even if we could, we can’t even give someone a Tylenol without a physicians order. Sorry everyone, it is what it is. I don’t know about everyone else but I LOVE my job, I like taking care of people, I like being able to spend more time with the patients than doctors do. I don’t want the responsibility of a physician; if I did I would have gone to medical school. Why can’t we just be nurses???

I have pondered this thought myself. I have to do a paper on the ANA with a presentation in an MBA cirriculum. I have also contemplated thoughts about joining - however, I would like to see some sort of financial report. I see an annual stakeholders report - but it has no financials as to how they are generating their revenues and expenses. Track the $$$ and you track the "activity".....

I believe they are a non-profit organization - yet no financials are posted??? If I send any organization dues - I would like to see where the money is going....

Does anyone have this information???

Thanks,
Ginger

Wow, from a rant about the uselessness of the ANA to the uselessness of the nurse, plus snuck a little political agenda in there as well.