Nurses Activism
Published Jul 16, 2003
NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN
10 Articles; 18,372 Posts
what else has ana been doing???? look here:
nurse leaders take action on range of workplace and patient care issues at ana's house of delegates
7/11/03
nurse leaders representing the american nurses association's 54 constituent member associations set policy on a range of issues important to the profession, including protecting the rights of nurses, supporting the critical role of public health nurses and the public health system and promoting ana's role in shaping the current debate on health care system reform to ensure access to care for all.
http://www.ana.org/pressrel/2003/pr0708.htm
ana ceo stierle highlights ana accomplishments in hod address
7/10/03
ana ceo linda stierle, msn, rn, cnaa,bc, highlighted ana's many accomplishments in her annual address to the house of delegates and urged delegates to pass the bylaws proposals in order for ana to be "the house of nursing."
http://www.ana.org/about/hod03/stierle.htm
ana house of delegates approves new structure to better meet the needs of nation's nurses
7/01/03
a landmark restructuring of the american nurses association (ana) will allow the organization to be more inclusive and better meet the needs of all nurses. overwhelmingly passed at the june 25-27 ana house of delegates (hod), the bylaws amendments create new membership categories that provide alternative pathways for organizations and individuals to connect with ana.
http://nursingworld.org/pressrel/2003/pr0630.htm
bylaw revision:
http://www.ana.org/bylaws/
ana government affairs: http://www.ana.org/gova/
federal advocacy
http://vocusgr.vocus.com/grconvert1/webpub/ana/multihome.asp?xsl=home&pubtypelist=federal+center;federal+asset
state advocacy
http://www.ana.org/gova/state.htm
2002 ana ceo 's stakeholder report:
http://nursingworld.org/about/lately/stkhld02.pdf
nursing's agenda for the future
nursing profession unveils strategic plan to ensure safe, quality patient care and address root causes of growing shortage nursing's agenda for the future calls for broad support from other stakeholders
http://nursingworld.org/naf/
2003 press releases from
the american nurses association
http://www.ana.org/pressrel/2003/index.htm
sjoe
2,099 Posts
More to the point: what are the CONCRETE RESULTS of those meetings, conferences, etc. in the working lives of everyday nurses?
ainz
378 Posts
my thoughts exactly sjoe
teeituptom, BSN, RN
4,283 Posts
Concrete sinks
Hot air rises
live4today, RN
5,099 Posts
Concreteville vs. Realityville............I live in Realityville! Let the rubber meet the road and see who comes out on top!
-jt
2,709 Posts
Im a staff RN working f/t at the bedside in an urban ICU. Im also an active ANA member. And I can tell you there are a lot of staff RN ANA members just like me, working hard in that organization, getting it to where we all know it should have been many years ago. And we're doing it. ANA's job is in Washington DC. If you want to know how the organization is working for RNs, read its government affairs page on its website. Also look at the studies it has done on workplace conditions, and RN staffing & its impact on patient care. Those studies give credence to our arguments and support the rationale for getting the laws we staff RNs need passed. Im so tired of hearing complaints about how much WE are not doing for everybody else who is isnt lifting a finger to help.
I am advocating that all nurses unite and join the American Nurses Association. They have some things in place that would be advantageous. With less than 10% of nurses in America being members, what can we expect from these people.
If we join in mass and elect people to the ANA that will get out there and MAKE THINGS HAPPEN then it would be worthwhile.
I am a results oriented person. The ANA has been around since 1902. Look at where nursing is today. You tell me what the ANA has done to produce concrete results. We need leadership in the ANA that truly reflects nursing issues today and has some teeth that knows how to get out there and be effective in bringing about change.
Rock on ainz! (clapping warranted for your post). :kiss
I, too, am a "results oriented person". Problems are a fact of life, but solutions come to those who work to make them happen.
you tell me what the ana has done to produce concrete results.
check out:
voices from the past, visions of the future a summary of selected benchmarks in the history of the american nurses association
the american nurses association, composed of professional nurses dedicated to the promotion of health and the care of the sick, has served as the forum in which the nation's critical health issues have been discussed throughout the last century.
functioning as a democracy, the ana provided the structure in which views were expressed, ideas were debated and evaluated, and positions and goals were formulated. because it represented the views of administrators, clinical practitioners in institutions and community agencies, educators, and researchers, it has served for 100 years as the public voice for the diversity of america's professional nurses.
this centennial exhibit focuses on the primary reason for all of ana's concern and activities, the fulfillment of nursing's social responsibility to provide health care to people.
the following is a selection of nurses' quotes and summarized narratives that depict ana's involvement with professional nurses and their patients throughout a century of care-giving. the content of "voices from the past, visions of the future" is a summary of selected benchmarks in the history of the american nurses association and is not to be considered an exhaustive study.
"organization is the power of the day.
without it, nothing great is accomplished."
sophia palmer, first and second convention of the american society of superintendents of training schools for nursing, 1897 http://nursingworld.org/centenn/index.htm
check out each decade link at bottom of website. karen
your guide to the benefits of ana membership:
http://nursingworld.org/member2.htm
providing information you need
http://nursingworld.org/member2.htm#info
presenting your work to the public: public relations
http://nursingworld.org/member2.htm#pr
protecting your patients' rights: ethics, human rights
http://nursingworld.org/member2.htm#patients
working for you on capitol hill: lobbying, legislative work
http://nursingworld.org/member2.htm#lobbying
organizing your political voice: politics, grassroots action
http://nursingworld.org/member2.htm#politics
guarding your rights and safety in the workplace: labor efforts, workplace safety
http://nursingworld.org/member2.htm#safety
working for you behind the scenes: in the federal agencies
http://nursingworld.org/member2.htm#federal
representing the u.s. nursing community: international nursing
http://nursingworld.org/member2.htm#icn
fighting for quality of care for your patients
http://nursingworld.org/member2.htm#quality
guiding your profession: standards of practice
http://nursingworld.org/member2.htm#practice
enriching your nursing career: networking, credentialing, certification, continuing education
http://nursingworld.org/member2.htm#career
highlights of 2002 activities:
what has ana done for me lately:
http://nursingworld.org/about/lately/ceohome.htm
I acknowledge that the ANA has been ACTIVE, but, activity that does not produce results is WASTED energy.
One of the key issues at hand that threatens the very survival of the profession is being able to link NURSING interventions to positive patient outcomes and linking that to positive financial outcomes. The ANA states that they have been aware of this missing research for 10 YEARS but NOTHING has been done.
Then we go look at the NIH NINR (National Institute for Nursing Research) and the "themes for the future" that their panel of EXPERT nursing researchers have developed, nothing directly addresses the issues currently threatening the very survival of our profession. Nothing directly addresses the reasons for, and SOLUTIONS to, the issues driving existing nurses out of the profession and keeping people from entering.
A nicely and professionally written collection of position papers has done little for nursing. Nursing is in the shape it is because we as nurses and our professional association that represents us have taken no effective and meaningful action to advance the profession. The laws and regulations of our country allow corporations to force nurses to accept things that are not good for healthcare or force nurses to leave. This should not be and I consider it an OUTRAGE.
I am very passionate about this subject because nursing is my CHOSEN profession and I have alot of pride in what I do and have done.
So, what has the ANA done for nursing lately????!!!!!!!
jnette, ASN, EMT-I
4,388 Posts
I know this may sound off the wall, but I was wondering if ALL nurses were REQUIRED to be a member of ANA (wait, now, I'm not finished... ) and we ALL had to pay dues (they could then also certainly afford to reduce those dues if ALL nurses were dues-paying members)... wouldn't we as ONE VOICE then be a whole lot louder..and HEARD? Wouldn't we EXPECT ANA to perform on ur behalf.. DEMAND it, even,.. if we all were paying dues... similar to any other union? Wouldn't we be filling ANA's mailbox and ringing those phones off the wall, as you so well stated in another thread? Wouldn't we be WANTING RESULTS for our money? And pushing a whole lot harder to GET them?
Just a thought.. I don't like "mandatory" anything, myself, but it sure does make me wonder....
jnette--based on some things I have read here and conversations with nurses in my community and hospital; it may be that the only way to unify nurses throughout the country is to impose some mandatory requirement that pulls us together, even if it is against our will--but wait--is that kind of like communism or a dictatorship or something where it is assumed people are too stupid to assume the basic responsibilities of living in a democracy and having freedom? Things like staying informed of important issues, being involved so that your opinion and voice is heard, voting, and such?????