As we explore professional organizations and advocacy for nursing practice, planned events frequently bring together groups of people for a shared goal. This week, the Million Nurse March is taking place in Washington, D.C. to push for safe practice. These activities will be supported by several of our professional organizations. Have you ever been to a lobbying session to promote or against healthcare legislation? You should participate in the process if you haven’t already.
I’ve never done anything like this before. However, as I learn more about the political structures that influence aspects of my chosen work, I am becoming more interested in participating. Some of the march’s issues are quite similar to those being negotiated by my union for the new hospital contract.
The salary cap is the most recent source of dispute. I’ll take a chance and see if I can do it correctly, but you have to be kidding me. This chain reaction was sparked off by the hospital’s poor management and nursing investment during a raging pandemic. Rather than investing in their patients or carers, hospitals invest in themselves. We were let go because the procedures had been canceled and they needed to maintain their profit margins. When everyone and their mother were ill, we had to work longer hours to compensate, have dangerous patient ratios that put both patients and ourselves in risk, and work in the most dangerous scenarios. Nurses have had enough of being treated like garbage. A large number of people went on vacation. At the very least, the money was worth the stress we experienced while dealing with hospitals. The hospitals then complain that travel agencies make too much money. People who believe in the free market and supply and demand rules. Do you follow what I’m saying? The domino effect has come full circle. They would have had nurses if they had cared about and invested in their employees rather than their own and stakeholders’ profits.
READ ALSO: NRS 430 Professional Development of Nursing Professionals
Discuss how professional nursing organizations support the field of nursing and how they advocate for nursing practice. Explain the value professional nursing organizations have in advocacy and activism related to patient care.
Organizations such as the American Nurses Association have goals of bettering health care practice and standards and also a goal of representing nurses and supporting them in the profession. Professional nursing organizations want to make the environment for the professionals good in turn helping to make the patient care/ outcomes good. Professional nursing organizations are responsible for the development and certification of nurses interested in improving health care and providing safe quality nursing care. Through participation in professional organizations, nurses can actively contribute to legislative changes that can affect patient care and the way they conduct their work (Helbig 2018). Nursing organizations advocate for nursing practice through publicly and legislatively outlined rules and regulations that depict standards of practice, this helps nurses have a written guideline for their profession, it helps to outline the directive of what is ok to do as a nurse. In turn this protects the nurse and advocates for the nurse as well as keeps the nurse in the educated and in the know so they can protect their license by practicing within their scope. The standards of practice describe a competent level of nursing practice demonstrated by the critical-thinking model known as the nursing process (Bickford, Marion, & Gazaway, 2015). ANA is an organization that supports the nurse, they have the goal in advocating for the nurse and raising awareness to problems that are being faced in the nursing profession. Organizations like The International Council of Nurses realize that nurses are front line with patients and understand that they are leaders in the medical field, they spend a vast amount of time at the bedside with abilities to collect real time data, they are educators as well as administrators. This gives nurses a lot of power and legislators look to nurses as leaders to help with policy. Being at the bedside gives the nurse the unique ability to report back to policy makers about what is working and what is not working in lieu of patient safety and patient centered care. “The International Council of Nurses is a federation of national nursing associations that works to enable nurses to speak with one voice so as to influence health policy and advance the profession of nursing” (Benton, 2012). Safe staffing, nursing workforce development (pushing nurses to obtain higher levels of education such as a BSN) and safe patient handling have been topics that the ANA has advocated for in the nursing arena as well as many more areas, these relate directly back to overall bettering the environment in order to create overall better patient outcomes.
READ ALSO: Discuss why you have decided to complete your BSN at this time
MONICA
The ANA states that “Organizations and associations in nursing are critical for generating the energy, flow of ideas, and proactive work needed to maintain a healthy profession that advocates for the needs of its clients and nurses, and the trust of society. People have a tendency to congregate, talk among themselves, and advocate for their causes. This has certainly occurred in nursing as evidenced by the breadth and depth of the various nursing groups that seek to enhance the work of nurses generally and in their specialty areas (2020, p. 2). There are over a hundred national nursing associations and organizations. The List of Nursing Organizations website, maintains a web-based list of organizations to name a few there are: Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses, Academy of Neonatal Nursing, American College of Nurse Practitioners, Advanced Practice Nurses of the Ozarks, Association of Pediatric Oncology, etc. These organizations support the interest of nurses who practice in specific clinical environments. As an example,The Association of Pediatric Oncology Nurses (APHON) supports nurses and their practice in order to optimize outcomes for children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer and blood disorders and their families. Nursing Organizations may very well be the foundation of professional development. The ANA says “When you are a member in a nursing organization this unites you with your peers. When nurses unite they have a stronger voice in the political arena on local, state and national level (2015, p.1).
Changes in health care occur daily being a member in a professional nursing organization “provides nurses with continuing education, certification opportunities, role-related competencies and educational conferences”(AMN,2015). To fulfill their mission, nursing organizations further the development of nursing standard of practice, expand the body of knowledge through research and evidence based practice and promote nurses’s general welfare in the workplace. As we can see there are many advantages when you are a member of a nursing organization, nurses should be active in the organizations so that this way we can advocate for our patients and improve the health of our communities.
References
American Nurses Association [ANA]. (2015). ANA President Pamela F. Cipriano, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, Responds to Comments on ABC’s “The View” [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.nursingworld.org/FunctionalMenuCategories/MediaResources/PressReleases/ANA-President-Cipriano-Responds-to-Comments-on-ABCs-The-View.html
American Nursing Association. Role of Professional Organizations in Advocating for the Nursing Profession. Retrieved from http://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-17-2012/No1-Jan-2012/Professional-Organizations-and-Advocating.html
AMN Healthcare, Inc. Nursing Organizations: The Role they Play in Professional Development. Retrieved from https://www.rn.com/nursing-organizations-the-role-they-play-in-professional-development/
Association of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses. Retrieved from https://aphon.org/about-us/association-pediatric-hematology-oncology-nurses
RESPOND TO MONICA HERE (150 WORDS, 2 REFERENCES)
Monica, I concur with that professional nursing associations play a vital role of generating the energy, flow of ideas, and proactive work required to maintain a robust profession that champions for the needs of patients, nurses, and the larger society. Moreover, the organizations provide a platform that brings nurses together to advocate for their causes (Debbie Cline, Kimberly Curtin & CEN, 2019). That is, the membership to the nursing organizations unites nurses to have strong voice in the policy and political issues at local, state, and national levels. Essentially, every nurse should strive to join these organizations due to massive benefits that the organizations have in influencing nursing profession and improving of the patients outcomes. Benefits joining nursing organizations include promotion of continuous professional development is critical in ensuring that nurses maintain competency, support provision of evidence-based practices, foster professional nursing practice, and support realization of career goals (Echevarria, 2018). Moreover, health care system is ever-changing. As such, nursing organizations equip nurses with competencies and skills to face the changes.
References
Debbie Cline, D. N. P., Kimberly Curtin, D. N. P., & CEN, C. (2019). Professional Organization Membership. Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, 23(5), 543-546.
Echevarria, I. M. (2018). Make connections by joining a professional nursing organization. Nursing2019, 48(12), 35-38.
ROSS
Re: Topic 5 DQ 1
Professional nursing organizations support the field of nursing via professional development of lifelong learning and assistance and enhancement of professional nursing practice (ANA 2010). Members of nursing organizations such as the ANA and the National League for nursing allow them to gain a broad focus of support in nursing and enhancing nurses knowledge in the field. On the other hand “the organizations like the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), the Society of Pediatric Nurses, the National Association of Orthopedic Nurses among others are focused on disease processes (diabetes, renal, cardiac), healthcare settings (hospital, clinic, surgical), age (pediatric, geriatrics), or advanced practice (Clinical Nurse Specialists, Nurse Executives, Nurse Educators” (Matthews, 2012). These nursing organizations help with professional development as part of the organization’s benefits. Being part of the organizations simply unite them with other nurses and helps them join together on a higher level. The nurses can unite on causes and their voice is heard on a state and national level (Matthews, 2012). Nurses must continue their education and achieve this by being part of the nursing organizations. In conclusion, nurses that are part of the nursing organizations help them network with others in their specialty, their voice is stronger collectively and enables them to stay up to date on evidence-based practice and changes.
References
American Nurses Association [ANA]. (2010). Nursing Professional Development: Scope and Standards of Practice. Silver Spring, Maryland: Nurses Books.org
Matthews, J.H. (2012). Role of professional organizations in advocating for the nursing profession. Retrieved from www.medscape.com/viewarticle/766817_print
RESPOND TO ROSS
This is an exceptional work Ross. In concurrence, there are numerous benefits nurses can gain in joining the nursing organizations. As such, every nurse should purpose to join at least one nursing organization. Nursing advocacy is among the various benefits of nursing organizations. Advocacy is the key in nursing and nurses tend to advocate for their patients, profession, and causes. The nursing organizations help in articulating nursing integrity, values, social policy, and practice by soliciting and coordinating opinions from individual nurses, nursing specialties, and associations (Halstead, 2017). The advocacy efforts by the nursing organizations aims at educating its members and the public about the essence of creative ideas, vigorous participation, and team work spirit in helping nursing practice to move ho greater levels. The associations are also vital in meeting the changes experienced in the cultural, social, and economic sectors. The unity of nurses through nursing organizations enables nurses to speak in one voice, and ensure vibrant and powerful ideas that can be used to realize advocacy outcomes (Ainagul, 2020).
References
Ainagul, N. (2020). Development and Integration of Professional Nursing Associations in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Halstead, J. A. (2017). Professional nursing organizations. Issues and trends in nursing: Practice, policy, and leadership, 107-118.
SAMANTHA
Re: Topic 5 DQ 1
Professional nursing organizations support the field of nursing by improving health care and setting the standards for the nursing practice (Helbig, 2018). There are many different professional organizations who are all geared towards advocating for nurses which trickles down to help advocate for patients the nurses serve. One of them is the American Nurses Association (ANA). The ANA advocates for nurses in all areas of the government, and especially advocates for bills that affect workplace issues like safe staffing ratios, mandatory overtime, patient transfers, and workplace violence (Helbig, 2018). Its very important the nurses know that they are not alone, there are many organizations that are collaborating and advocating for them which affects advocacy for the patient as well (Helbig, 2020). Professional nursing organizations hold a lot of value for patient care by bringing the biggest issues the nurses have to the forefront. Nurses biggest priority is patient safety and achieving the best possible outcome for their patient. Professional organizations work to create solutions regarding any areas of concerns. The national patient safety goals have come about because of the areas of highest concern outlined in the IOM report and are updated every year, these goals have become part of everyday practice in nursing (Helbig, 2018). I have a tag on my name badge from work that is given to the nurses every year with the updated safety concerns. This year the 2020 Hospital safety goals are to: identify patients correctly, improve staff communication, use medications safely, use alarms safely, prevent infections, identify patient safety risks, prevent mistakes in surgery (Joint Commission,2020). All of these goals advocate for patients rights and work to meet their need of safe, competent care which also happens to be the nurses’ goal as well.
Reference:
Helbig, J. (2018). Professional engagement. In Grand Canyon University (Eds.), Dynamics in Nursing: Art
and Science of Professional Practice. https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs430v/dynamics-in-nursing-artand-science-of-professional-practice/v1.1/#/chapter/5
Joint Commission, (2020). Hospital: 2020 National Patient Safety Goals. https://www.jointcommission.org/standards/national-patient-safety-goals/hospital-2020-national-patient-safety-goals/.
RESPOND TO SAMANTHA HERE
This is a great work Samantha. It is undoubted that professional nursing organizations provide significant support to the nursing practice by enhancing health care and clinical setting’s standards for the nursing practice. Moreover, the organizations are instrumental in enhancing patient care by highlighting and addressing challenges faced by nurses and providing continuous training to equip nurses with competencies for patient care. On the other hand, Halstead (2017) argues that the organizations also provide effective means that nurses can use influence areas of healthcare policy, represent and safeguard the interest of nurses and nursing practice, and advocate for sophisticated quality of care to the public among others. Membership to the nursing organization also helps individual nurses to stay updated on the issues that affect their specific areas of practice and nursing roles. Engagement in nursing organizations is also critical in fostering leadership development, provide networking opportunities, increase collaboration skills, and facilitate career development. The organizations also promote the welfare of nurses in the workplace, facilitate research to expand EBP and body of knowledge in nurses, and develop nursing standards of practice (Lowe & Jennings, 2017).
References
Halstead, J. A. (2017). Professional nursing organizations. Issues and trends in nursing: Practice, policy, and leadership, 107-118.
Lowe, G., & Jennings, T. (2017). Nurse Practitioner Professional Nursing Organisation Engagement. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 13(9), 642.
