Benefits of Sigma Theta Tau International

[Bluebell.]

Hi everyone,

I was invited to join STTI. I was reading other threads about benefits of this membership, and it seems like many people do not think it is worth paying the membership fees.

I have a few questions regarding the membership:

-How helpful is STTI in helping one make connections for jobs?

-Generally, how involved is STTI in the community?

-If I do not pay the fees and attend the induction ceremony, can I still join another year?

-Other thoughts?

Your help would be most appreciated :-)

[Bluebell.]

I was invited but as groucho said "i wouldn't belong to any club that would have me as a member".

Good point. Like IhflanurseNP said, why should we pay for that honor? Lol

[Bluebell.]

I've been a member for many years and don't regret it, but I haven't gotten a lot of direct benefit, either. Having lived in a couple different communities over those years, some of the local chapters were active, some were not so much -- and most of the activities were not focused on my specialty and/or areas of interest.

I still don't regret it as I have enjoyed some of their programs ... and I like the membership discount for buying their books. It's also like a "membership card" to certain factions of nursing leadership -- and as I am in a leadership position, it's nice to have their endorsement. Finally, I do support their work in funding small, local research grants and am happy to contribute to that cause.

Thank you so much for your input. I'm glad you found some benefits for your leadership position. In what ways were a few of your chapters active?

[Bluebell.]

The chapter at the school where I did a BSN completion program, and where I was invited to join, has a v. active chapter. They have quarterly meetings that are well attended and always include an educational presentation in addition to the business meeting. They have a number of community service activities going on at any particular time. They offer some limited scholarships for school and some limited research grants. It's a good group for professional mentoring and networking.

The same was true of the chapter of my grad school. As I said, it varies from chapter to chapter. Some are v. active and offer lots of good professional opportunities; others are mostly a formality.

That is good your chapter was very active, and I hope mine provides many opportunities for community involvement and networking as well. I contacted someone from my local chapter regarding its involvement, but haven't gotten a response yet. So I assume you had a good experience then with the chapters from both schools?

[Bluebell.]

Usually yes they invite you as a student but I have heard of nurses in the community also being invited. And yes the students wear the cords at pinning & graduation & of course list on the resumes but I don't know what they do after that.

That's interesting. Thank you for your response. Yeah, it would be good if some chapters benefited students more than just the recognition for good grades.

[elkpark]

That is good your chapter was very active, and I hope mine provides many opportunities for community involvement and networking as well. I contacted someone from my local chapter regarding its involvement, but haven't gotten a response yet. So I assume you had a good experience then with the chapters from both schools?

I was more than busy enough with my graduate studies (and felt that full-time graduate study was providing me with more than enough "professional enrichment," haha) -- I didn't transfer my membership and wasn't active in the chapter at my grad school. But I was generally aware that it was an active, busy chapter.

[Nonyvole, BSN, RN]

My chapter is pretty active. Grants for students to do things like travel to learn about nursing internationally, activities for nursing students, and I'll at the very least glance at research abstracts.

However, I'm looking into going into management and/or education, when my body decides that it really can't handle bedside nursing anymore, so being a member is useful.