This informational flyer outlines the mission, vision, and membership benefits of the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses (AMSN), one of the largest nursing organizations in the United States. It describes both publicly available resources and exclusive member benefits, including reduced certification costs, free continuing nursing education (CNE) contact hours, leadership development, and scholarship opportunities. The paper also highlights AMSN's collaborative role in advancing patient care — notably through the launch of Malnutrition.com — and notes an upcoming meeting on inpatient malnutrition awareness. The flyer concludes with endorsement highlights, including AMSN's support of the Institute of Medicine's The Future of Nursing.
The Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses (AMSN) is one of the largest nursing organizations in the United States, with over 10,000 members (AMSN, 2012). Medical-surgical (MS) nurses practice in a variety of settings, including inpatient, outpatient, and patients' homes. The AMSN exists to help promote the professional development of MS nurses, improve patient care, and — through collaboration — influence healthcare policy affecting patient care. The mission of AMSN is to strive for excellence in MS nursing, while its vision is to work continuously toward patient care excellence.
All nursing professionals, whether AMSN members or not, can take advantage of CMSRN certification study aids, attend the annual convention, access the MEDSURG Nursing journal and newsletters, search for jobs in the career center, study MS standards of nursing, and network with other MS nurses (AMSN, n.d.). But why settle for less? AMSN membership not only provides access to these resources, but also creates opportunities to influence the priorities, mission, vision, and patient care values that define AMSN, as well as healthcare policy at the local, state, and national levels.
With a membership exceeding 10,000 nursing professionals, the potential for making a real difference in the quality of patient care is significant — especially through collaboration with other professional nursing, physician, and medical organizations. For example, AMSN joined with Abbott, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, and the Society of Hospital Medicine to launch the website Malnutrition.com (Lewis, 2014). The target audience of this website is clinicians caring for patients suffering from malnutrition at the time of admission, a condition that afflicts close to 30% of all inpatients. This example highlights how AMSN members engage with other professional organizations to improve patient outcomes — an increasingly important role as the U.S. healthcare landscape continues to evolve rapidly (Fights, 2012).
"CNE hours, certifications, leadership, and scholarships"
"Planned January 2015 clinician forum details"
"IOM endorsement and how to join AMSN"
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