Do you belong to a nursing association?

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  1. Do you belong to a nurses association?

    • 79
      Yes
    • 36
      National
    • 20
      State
    • 52
      One specific to department (CC, ICU, OR, ER, Peds)
    • 126
      More than one of the above
    • 163
      None

476 members have participated

Do you belong to a Nurses Association? Do you feel it's worth it? I'm deciding on my options. Thanks -Andrea

Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

for those not up to date on ana and speciality nursing organizations:

why join a professional nursing association?

it pays to join a professional association-page 1

why join a professional association

winning alliances: join professional associations

love this schools idea:

being a professional holds both privileges and obligations. belonging to a professional association not only demonstrates professional leadership but provides numerous opportunities to meet other leaders (networking and collegiality), participate in policy formation, continue specialized education and shape the future of the profession.

if you are currently a member of a professional organization you may count 10 additional clinical hours.

if you join a professional organization during the semester you may count 10 additional clinical hours.

http://www.muw.edu/nursing/tupelo/professionalorganizations.html

factors affecting nurses' decisions to join and maintain ...

what has ana been doing lately? : annual stakeholders report 2004

the american nurses association comprises itself, its fifty-four constituent members, associate organizational members, organizational affiliates, individual members, individual affiliate members and related entities.

ana constituent members

associate organizational members

organizational affiliates

direct individual members

individual affiliate members

related entities

national nursing organizations

(* denotes organizational affiliates of ana)

lpn/lvn's:

napnes: lpn / lvn association

california licensed vocational nurses' association

canadian practical nurses association

australian practice nurses association

canada:

canadian nurses association

professional practice groups: description - registered nurses ...

registered practical nurses association of ontario (rpnao ...

canadian orthopaedic nurses association

operating room nurses association of canada

building the future

australia:

[color=#696969]australian nursing federation

national nursing organisations

ireland:

irish nurses organisation

united kingdom:

royal college of nursing

community and district nursing association

british association of critical care nurses

association of british paediatric nurses

international council of nurses

this list is just some of the nursing associations i've come across in my professional and internet travels.

i invite my colleagues to take a fresh look and consider joining one of these organizations for increased knowledge = increased personal power.

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:balloons:

Well said as always, Karen.

I belong to ANA and my state organization, and to the American Psychiatric Nurses Association. Do I always agree 100% with whatever decisions are made by any of these groups? No, but when do any of us agree totally with any group we join? These groups still give me an opportunity to make my voice heard and to have an impact on nursing and on health care in general. Through these groups, I've worked on mandatory OT legislation, parity in the care and treatment of mental illness, and safe staffing, among others. In addition, my membership has allowed me to meet nurses from all over the country who share a belief that we can make a difference. Decisions are made by people who show up.

ANA membership is a hot button topic here. All I can say is in the years I have been a member, no one has ever asked me for a string of credentials, and I am a DIPLOMA grad. I am a committee chair for my state, I'm on my local board and chair a committe there as well. I think I make a difference and I value what I and my colleagues do. I am sorry that anyone has felt less than valued because of ANA's BSN as entry level position, I guess I don't look at it as putting down any specific group, but rather as an attempt to bring everyone to the same page. I think what really bothers me about this is the divisions it causes at a time when we should be working together to improve our ability to deliver quality patient care and to respect what each of us brings to this profession.

Patty

I agree with Karen and Patty. I joined ANA to have my voice heard and while I don't always agree with some of the recommendations made I do feel I can speak out about them. I am also a member of the Oncology Nursing Society and Oncology Certified. I also hold ANCC Med-Surg cerfication. These are valuable in my practice as they are recognized credentials. I also belong to the Spciety og Nurse Oncologists (SGNO). All of these associations provide avenues for education and networking.

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:Melody: I belong to the ANA.

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Specializes in Gerontological, cardiac, med-surg, peds.

I am a member of Sigma Theta Tau :)

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

I am a member of: AWHONN, ACNP (American College Nurse Practitioners), NACLNC, AALNC, ADA (American Diabetes Assoc.),

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Hello fellow nurses, I have just registered here at allnurses. I do not belong to a nurses org., yet after reading the many e-mails I am definitely planning to research and join at least one or two to start. I have been searching for a nurses forum for some time. Peace, ttktqt

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.
Hello fellow nurses, I have just registered here at allnurses. I do not belong to a nurses org., yet after reading the many e-mails I am definitely planning to research and join at least one or two to start. I have been searching for a nurses forum for some time. Peace, ttktqt

Hello and Welcome to Allnurses.com

You need to go to the Introduction and Greetings forum and introduce yourself to everyone. Many do not frequent this forum.

Hope to see your intro announcement. :balloons:

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I agree! :) I voted "none" for that reason. :uhoh3:

i second this. i don't like all of the drama either. i belonged to NSNA for a while. maybe ANA in the future.

on the BSN entry thing, i agree with that though. we'll get there....

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Yes, I belong to the Association of Operating Room Nurses. I have to belong to be a Registered Nurse First Assist, Certified Nurse of Operating Room. I believe it is worth it because it makes me a Clinical Nurse 4 at my facility. You can write me back if you want to by sending me a personal message.

Do you belong to a Nurses Association? Do you feel it's worth it? I'm deciding on my options. Thanks -Andrea
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I don't belong to ANA and wouldn't - for 2 reasons.

1. They are political. They don't push for better nursing; they push for candidates. I'm not a John Kerry fan and I didn't think it was a good expenditure of my money to support an organization that spends its money contrary to my beliefs. Likewise, I'm not a H. Clinton fan, and when ANA jumps on her bandwagon in 2 yrs, it won't be with my support.

2. ANA advocates BSN Entry, which is the same thing to me as saying "We are an organization for all nurses - but not really, if you're only an ADN" - If my professional organizations wants to scoff at me, fine, just don't expect me to support it. -- This is why I say that this (yes, I know, tired old) debate is costly to nursing. Because heaven knows we could use a strong professional organization. I only brought it up because it's relevant to why I don't belong to ANA.

~faith,

Timothy.

Ditto on the ANA. I am a Sigma Theta Tau member & am working on my NP. I have known diploma & ADN nurses that knew more than some BSN nurses so I can't in good faith exclude them. I do understand the need for a more "professional" standard but didn't we all have to pass the NCLEX? (that's rhetorical)

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i, too, belong to aorn, ana, and nsna. i was an officer for the nursing student's assoc. of new york state when i was in school. i liked being able to bounce ideas off of other nursing students, and it helps similarly now that i'm an rn. people do different things in different parts of the world, and communicating about it gives me fresh perspective. yes, there is the political part of it. i also know that no matter what a group does, someone is not going to be happy about it. as far as how the ana does things, i'm happy with it, and agree with a lot of it.

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Specializes in Gerontological, cardiac, med-surg, peds.

I am now a member of the NLN (as of this month). Our ADN school is also trying to revive our chapter of the NSNA.

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