This paper examines the wide-ranging influence of professional nursing organizations on the nursing profession and on public health. It explores how these organizations support continuing education, certification, and skill development; how they advocate for health policy at local and national levels; and how alliances among specialty organizations elevate standards of care. The paper also highlights real-world partnerships, such as the collaboration between the National Association of School Nurses and the CDC on flu prevention, and the formation of the NICE Network by the American Nurses Association and CDC to combat emerging infectious diseases. Overall, the paper argues that nursing organizations are indispensable to professional growth and societal well-being.
Nursing organizations have a tremendous impact on the profession and on the good of society. When nurses begin their practice after graduation, many of them are well aware that they are responsible for their own professional development. Joining a nursing organization is the best way to dedicate oneself seriously and realistically to professional development, since these entities have such a strong focus on continuing education and shaping society for the better. Nursing organizations are able to critically impact the profession because of the unity they create among professionals. They create a system of membership and camaraderie that offers nurses continual education, opportunities for certification, and role-related skill-building, along with educational gatherings and programs (Schneider, 2015).
Part of the reason that nursing organizations are so crucial is because healthcare is constantly in flux. There are daily updates and changes that occur in this arena, and the nursing profession is largely able to keep up with them when nurses organize in this manner. One of the biggest challenges for professional nurses is keeping up with all the developments in evidence-based research. Nurses have such demanding daily schedules that it is not always possible for them to read studies and entire journals after work. When nurses align with reputable nursing organizations that support or focus on their area of specialty, this pushes them to the forefront of all relevant changes in nursing practice. It makes the professional stronger and allows patients to receive a higher level of care.
Joining a nursing organization centered in one's arena of practice means having a front-row seat to relevant continuing education opportunities. Furthermore, the opportunity to attend conferences is essential. Conferences gather nurses from all over the nation, allowing them to share practices, tips, and findings that are relevant and that advance the practice of nursing as a whole. Nursing organizations can be powerful in getting their voices and platforms heard, by virtue of their large size and influence.
As a result of the fact that nurses are on the front lines of patient care, they often have a very specific understanding of the unique needs and issues that must be addressed in order to ensure improved healthcare outcomes. When they seek to influence policy to improve the well-being of the nation and its people, they can do so with greater success as part of an entire nursing organization.
Advocacy is a tremendously large part of the nursing field. Nurses must constantly advocate for the people and issues around them — for patients, for the field, and for areas of pressing concern. As one professional nurse and community leader writes, "Our advocacy, motivated by moral and ethical principles, seeks to influence policies by pleading or arguing within political, economic, and social systems, and also institutions, for an idea or cause that can lead to decisions in resource allocation that promote nurses, nursing, and all of healthcare" (Matthews, 2012). This demonstrates how nursing organizations can have a very real and discernible impact on the course and manifestation of the entire healthcare arena.
One of the most obvious and important ways that nursing organizations impact the profession is through the power of the alliances they form. Every specialty nursing organization helps to advocate for nurses, as its organizational objectives directly connect to members, their needs, their areas of focus, and their standards of practice. One of the major ways these organizations can help to influence and improve the profession as a whole is through the ways in which they benefit the public. As Matthews (2012) explains, "Many specialty organizations, and their members, educate the public, policy makers, healthcare administrators, and professionals on specific issues. Nursing organizations are cognizant of the power of unity and engage in collaborative ventures with other nursing and health-related professional organizations when appropriate."
"Specialty organizations collaborate to elevate care standards"
"Organizations help nurses influence political decision-making"
"CDC and WHO partner with nursing organizations on campaigns"
The influence and power of nursing organizations cannot be underestimated. Nursing organizations exist to unite all professionals in the field under one umbrella. On a more focused level, they connect nurses of a particular specialty together so that those nurses remain current with the top updates and developments in their field. Nursing organizations make it possible for alliances to be formed in order to achieve greater impact on policy and public health. They can join forces with powerful entities like the CDC and the WHO as a means of transforming standard protocols or raising awareness about a public health issue.
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