Everybody has heard the saying, "There's strength in numbers." And whether you are a new graduate or seasoned professional, you've also probably heard about "the power of networking." Perhaps you've even taken advantage of these career strategies.
Yet while some might dismiss these as simple catchphrases, the ANA believes they have real meaning. We know they are effective ways to help nurses help their patients, improve their work-places, and advance their careers.
Let me give you some examples of how the ANA uses these strategies to better nurses' professional lives. I'll start with our efforts to increase grants and scholarships designed to help potential and practicing nurses continue their education and advance their careers. Through collective action, the ANA and nurses nationwide lobbied federal legislators in 2004 to again increase funding for nursing work-place development programs under a measure called the Nurse Reinvestment Act. Together, we convinced members of Congress that this money is vital to increasing the supply of new nurses and assisting current nurses to pursue advanced education in specialty areas that are experiencing acute shortages.
Under the ANA umbrella, our strength in numbers kept the heat on policymakers and federal regulators-and put health care employers on notice-that we would fight changes to workplace regulations that could strip nurses of their overtime protections.
And we backed the reintroduction of federal legislation, the Patient Safety Act, designed to ensure safer patient care and improve nurses' workplaces. Furthermore, nurses throughout the country are using the ANA's Principles for Nurse Staffing to address staffing levels in a comprehensive, meaningful way.
There are programs within the ANA's subsidiary, the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), that greatly benefit nurses, as well. The ANCC offers a wide range of nurse certification exams that help nurses validate their specialty knowledge and build their careers. Another ANCC effort, the Magnet Recognition Program, rewards acute and long-term care facilities that are models of nursing excellence nationwide. To achieve Magnet status, facilities must prove that they are places where nurses want to work-because of strategies they employ and the respect they give to RNs.
As for the proven value of networking, the ANA's health and safety staff recently conducted a training program to help build a network of nurse experts who could assist RNs within their state associations on issues related to the prevention of needlestick and other sharps injuries.
And then there is our large-scale networking opportunity, the ANA convention. In 2004, a few thousand nurses from across the nation came together in Minneapolis to take continuing education courses, browse health care-related booths, hear some incredible speakers, and just talk with each other. I know my own career has been helped by nurses I've met at events like our convention, and I'd like to believe I've assisted new and seasoned nurses with practice issues or other aspects of our great profession.
Whether it's through tools, like our staffing principles, programs, or the ANA's network of nurses, we can help you build a rewarding career. Through direct membership in the ANA or through our state-level constituent member associations (CMAs), you will have myriad opportunities to broaden your knowledge of nursing and health care issues, as well as the chance to actively participate in areas that interest you. In the past two years, we've expanded the ways in which you can get connected to the ANA. For example, you can join through your CMA, or you can become a "virtual" ANA member through our new online initiative.
We welcome all RNs, and we urge you to check out our Web site and join us at http://www.NursingWorld.org. Good luck in your practice!!