Are you a member of the NSNA?

k9's mom · Jan 6, 2004

I'm a member!

nursepearl · Jan 6, 2004

what are some real benefits to being the NSNA? Well that all depends on what you value....if you value discounts from being a member...then you definitely wont find that at the NSNA. If you value activism in your chosen career path and to broaden your view of said path...then thats what you will find by being a member.

As a person of color (which makes up about 8% of the nursing field, the rest being Caucasian) i wanted to be seen and heard. Besides the activism I was able to network for future employment opportunities at the conventions and go to invaluable seminars relating to the nursing field (Ie. speaks from different specialties, test taking strategies, and many more).

As far as being a member of your school chapter...well I became a member when I first began nursing school. I found the benefits of being a school chapter member, to be priceless. I was able to communication with other semesters to see how things were before I got there. You see and talk others who are (or were)experiencing the same thing you are.

All in all I find the NSNA to have been a excellent experience for me and my growth into being a nurse.

I plan on becoming a member of the national Hispanic nurses assoc., and ANA. I like the feeling of being active in my future and the future of the up coming nurses.

In the general discussion section of this board they posted a story about how dissatisfied nurses are with their jobs....but the thing is...what are WE are the up in coming nurses going to do to change the things we are dissatisfied with?

Pearl

justjenny · Jan 6, 2004

nursepearl -

Thank you for your reply. This is exactly what I was looking for. Your opinion is much appreciated!!

Jenny

RNIAM, BSN, RN · Jan 6, 2004

I don't plan on joining until I am an RN and then absolutely.I want a voice in my future and that is the best place to start.:)

georgia peaches · Jan 6, 2004

I was/am a member, and attended state conferences, but never national.

I couldn't begin to cover everything that I have learned from the conferences alone....from learning that there are scores of students who feel exactly as I did from schools all over the state - to getting a handle on what some of the bigger challenges are for practicing nurses.

Mostly I belong for the sake of political activism (though I despise politics, I know that for anything to change or improve, I have to speak up).

The state of Florida also provides the first year of membership in the Florida Nurse's Association for free, if you were an NSNA member as a student.

I have no regrets; the benefits from the $35.00 far outweigh the expense!

again, just my 0.02

wonderbee, BSN, RN · Jan 6, 2004

Joining our school chapter is, shall we say, "strongly encouraged". Our acceptance packet lumped in membership fees with purchasing our lab kit which is mandatory.

I know we're planning on some volunteer community health screening activities and I do believe it's a good place to start the good habit of community service so it's fine with me. As far as being able to attend conventions, I don't know. That's really not in the budget.

sonyaleigh89 · Oct 2, 2011

I'm a member and am going to my first conference this month :)

ashleyisawesome, BSN, RN · Oct 3, 2011

our school "makes" us. our membership fee is included in tuition, so technically im a member, but never really did anything with it.. i do know that they send a few people to the conferences though. i think they are planning on going to Nashville.

freki, ADN, RN · Oct 3, 2011

I'm a member, and my class rep for the school. I attended my first conference over the weekend. In Idaho (where I'm at school), the state NSNA chapter have teamed up with the state ANA chapter, which I think is an even greater effect than either one individually. I was encouraged to run for either the school presidency or upcoming state openings. I'm excited and planning on doing so. You learn so much from conferences and meetings that you do not get in class. I attended a lecture by the ANA President, a physician who was/is an adviser to President Obama, and a cardiac lecture that was out of this world (and I'm already ACLS certified, but I loved it!). Things you can't necessarily put on a resume, but add loads to your credentials in the form of life experience.

I have a mission of reviving my school NSNA chapter this upcoming semester for the incoming class. I feel your pain, VickyRN. I have found, and it disheartens me so much, that nurses tend to be very apathetic outside of their shift. It seems like there is plenty of whining, but not a person to do a thing about it. Of the 3 million nurses in this country, only about 175,000 belong to the ANA, about 5.8%. We see similar rates at our school about NSNA. These are the types of organizations that determine how your profession is seen and what changes take place. Why do people not care???

SunshineDaisy, ASN, RN · Oct 3, 2011

I am a member of our schools NSNA and am the 1st semester representative. I have attended the local conferances, but not national as our finances don't allow it. My favorite thing about our local NSNA is all the volunteer work we get to do! I am huge on volunteer work and they have a lot of opportunites.

freki, ADN, RN · Oct 3, 2011

That's awesome, Sunshine! How often do you guys get out and do volunteer work? It seems to me that maybe we don't do enough community involvement in our chapter.

SunshineDaisy, ASN, RN · Oct 4, 2011

Guess I should say it's the SNA, since it's not national..oops*L*

They have volunteer oportunities just about every month. They have booths set up at walks where we can do blood pressures and do IVs, as long as one of our professors are there. We also do stuff around the school like new student orientation. Also do bake sales. It would be nice if there were more, but we all know how busy nursing school is!