Frist year student needs advice

KatieBell · Oct 17, 2005

If you know what you want to go into, you could join one of the "specialty organizations- for Emergency, Critical Care, or what not.

Otherwise, I'd go for the American Nurses Association.

Or one of the student nurses associations- that way you may have conference opportunities with other students.

kane · Oct 17, 2005

Thank you so much for your help I will definitely try that. -kane

elkpark · Oct 17, 2005

Are you aware of the NSNA, the National Student Nurses Association? If your school doesn't have a chapter, you could look into starting one. As you can tell by the name, it is focused specifically on issues of interest to nursing students.

As far as professional organizations go, each state has a state nursing association which is an affiliate of the American Nurses Association. These are "general interest" organizations which work on issues of interest to all nurses in the state, regardless of clinical specialty. The dues are usually pretty steep (they vary from state to state). Also, there is quite a bit of controversy within the larger nursing community about the ANA. A lot of nurses don't like some of the positions the ANA takes on political and social questions. Your school's library probably subscribes to "The American Nurse," the ANA newsletter, and reading some issues could help you make up your own mind about how interested you are.

Beyond the state "chapters" of the ANA, the other professional nursing organizations are largely oriented to specific clinical specialties, so it would depend on what areas of nursing you're interested in. If you already have a particular interest in a specific area, I pretty much guarantee you there is a related professional group out there. However, none of these groups are cheap (annual dues), even with the student discounts some offer. Given that your interest (in a specialty area) may well change as you continue through school, I wouldn't encourage you to spend a lot of money to join any of the specialty organizations while you are still a student. Plenty of time for that in the future!

However, the NSNA is the group whose focus and efforts apply most directly to nursing students, and your state nurses assoc. is most focused on working on behalf of nurses in your state. Either of those would be good places to start your involvement, IMO. Best wishes with your journey!