Joining Nursing Professional Bodies: ANA, AACN & More - Essay Sample

Nurses must join governing professional bodies to use them as platforms to associate with other nurses, learn of the trending and current health care trends, join conventions for ongoing educational training, and acquire expert certificates. The nursing bodies that am interested in joining include;

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American Nurses Association (ANA): ANA being of the largest nursing association, it is in my interest that I am affiliated with it in the future after completion of my BSN. The organization has an extensive library online with a wealth of information and research accessible to its members. Becoming an affiliate of the ANA will be an outstanding contribution to my curriculum vitae as a nurse while seeking employment. The association has access to the best nursing publications and magazines, articles, and research papers that are accessible to members only. Besides, it will allow me to network with fellow nurses. Membership and access to the information available will allow me to grow both personally and professionally.

American Red Cross: Becoming an associate of the Red Cross will allow me to undertake the hands-on tasks which will be beneficial to my future career as compared to reading information online and attending seminars. I have been a person who volunteers in community services, volunteering as a Red Cross member will allow me to learn and teach in life-saving activities such as blood donations to providing help to calamity sufferers. The association will help me continue being an active person while giving back to the community; hence it will also be useful in my resume.

National Student Nurses Association (NSNA): As a nursing student, the most valuable resource is joining the NSNA. While continuing with my studies, the NSNA will allow me to seek employment as a student, get access to the educative periodicals, and copious information regarding nursing. The NSNA has a range of enlightening conferences and governance skill-building resources and offers scholarships for nursing students. As a nursing student, the organization will allow me to get the opportunities that would first not have been availed when I am not an affiliate of the organization.

In the nursing occupation, many problems require addressing if we want to get back on track. There must be a clinically focused environment that discusses what matters to the patients and nurses.

All recently qualified nurses should have an obligatory preceptorship to aid them to acclimatize to novel roles assigned to them. Qualifying is only the beginning of becoming a nurse, hence the need to continue training.

The general managers are not the ones to managed nurses but their trusted chief nurses. The chief nurses should guide and govern their nursing staff directly. When the general managers run the nurses, they may fail to understand the need for certain aspects of work or the reason behind decisions made by the nursing workforce. It will increase the confidence of the nurses in their managers.

Patients who come to hospitals quite often lack adequate knowledge or essential information about the disease conditions they have or their family member has. I intend to help create awareness among the patients visiting the hospital by educating them more about their disease conditions. Connecting with the other nurses to help provide the patient with the resources they need for their health care is crucial. Lack of adequate resources among patients like information, where they can get funding, or how to manage their disease condition is a factor that has motivated me to be a nurse and help such patients. The doctor may diagnose a patient, recommend medication, but the patient may fail to know more about their disease conditions. Educating the patients will increase their confidence in the health care systems and nurses as well.

"Create awareness through education and connecting patients to necessary resources regarding their health, as a crucial step to making reasonable and guided decisions by the patient while enhancing patient confidentiality in nurses and the healthcare system."

Moving Toward Your Declared Legacy

To build my legacy, I have undertaken some crucial steps to fulfil my goals. I have been able to voluntarily participating in community services like helping those who cannot access medical care immediately. Besides, I have participated in medical camps to reach out, engaged in blood drive campaigns, and managed to guide people access the relevant resources like information from a different organization. For instance, for cancer patients, I have helped them get information and help from the American Cancer Society and directed some other patients to get help from various hospitals. Towards building my declared legacy, I have managed to affiliate with the National Student Nurses Association to help me foster my professional growth as a nursing student, get mentorship from the organization towards my licensure as a registered nurse. These contributions I have added them to my resume that I have created to help e attain my set goals.

My short term goals;

I plan to finish my Bachelor's Science in Nursing and finish with flying colours. Upon completion of the BSN, I plan to join the American Nursing Association and pass the NCLEX on my first attempt and find a well-paying job position at a facility where I will gain the most experience as a novice nurse. Besides, I intend to continue with voluntary community services like medical camps to help those who cannot access medical care when they are in need.

My long-term goals;

Upon achieving my short term goals, I plan on completing my master's degree in Nursing, join a professional nursing body for advancing/specialized registered nurses and, if possible, join the leadership of the board. Elevating my professionalism and marketing myself for better jobs where I can continue growing both personally and professionally.

I am currently working to support myself, which requires me to put aside some time to support myself. It is in my plans to look for a scholarship program from the Nursing Student Nurses Association and other organizations supporting the nurses. They will help me pay my tuition fee and look for a job in school so that I can spend more time working towards achieving my declared legacy. Having ample time will allow me to focus on my studies. Secondly, I am currently undertaking a different additional course, which I plan to put on hold until when I am free from schoolwork. I plan to continue with the deferred course during holidays when I am free from schoolwork.

References

Gillespie, B. M., Harbeck, E. B., Falk-Brynhildsen, K., Nilsson, U., & Jaensson, M. (2018). Perceptions of perioperative nursing competence: a cross-country comparison. BMC nursing, 17(1), 12. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12912-018-0284-0

Laskowski-Jones, L. (2016). Defining your legacy in nursing. https://journals.lww.com/nursing/FullText/2016/05000/Defining_your_legacy_in_nursing.1.aspx