Associations seek to ensure that the vulnerable in the society like people with disabilities, and unprivileged; have their voices heard regarding issues that are very vital to them. This is done through the defense and safeguarding of their rights, considering their views and wishes when making decisions about their lives. The paper will aim at expounding on how professional advocacy through association membership supports the personal interests of someone, this will be done by addressing different issues presented in this coursework.
I joined a national association of nurses referred to as American Association of Nurse Practitioners, the largest nursing professional membership organization in the country that includes NPs from different specialties. As a student, joining this association is a lifetime opportunity.
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Mission and Vision of the Organization
The organization seeks to empower practitioners through advancing quality of health care practice, researching and leadership, the main purpose being the promotion of a healthcare system which is of a high-quality (Vogt, 2014).
Requirements for Membership
Being a member of AANP exceeds just being part of membership but a real opportunity to make a different in your career as and profession and also the health of the country in general, joining this organization is like joining a movement and a strong community of nurse practitioners. There are different requirements that one must meet in order to join this vibrant association, first to join AANP as a member you must be a graduate from a recognized nursing practitioner institution in the country, second, you must be in your first year of your career.
Benefits of Belonging to this Organization
Everything is actually valuable about the membership of AANP, one of the benefits is being educated as a nursing practitioner, on this benefit, members get hundreds of hours of free education and they are also exposed to different learning materials and resources, they also get Quality CE courses that include pharmacology credit which is offered free to members (Goolsby, 2017). Additionally, AANP provides members with educational experiences so as to optimize their professional performance. Another benefit that members get is practice and career support, AANP maximizes the career development of its members and improves its members networking. On networking, AANP has a research network known as American Association of Nurse Practitioners Network for research, which is responsible for research in the medical sector in order to provide practitioners with opportunities of engaging themselves in acquisition of knowledge that is important to themselves and the patients they deal with.
The third benefit that one benefits as a member of AANP is state and federal advocacy, this is so because AANP tirelessly represents the interests of all nurses in the fifty states, AANP also through the support of its members can engage with different stakeholders and congress members in the address of issues that impact nurses, like the licensing of nurses which has been a debating issue in the country for long period of time. Through the support of members, the organization also makes consultations with consumers, policy makers and pharmaceutical industries both locally and internationally.
The fourth benefit that one can obtain by being a member of this association is getting timely and relevant information, this is because the organization makes it very easy for its members to be informed through filtering and clearly delivering to its members the information they need to know. Membership also enables one to obtain a newsletters with the latest news announced. As a member, you get frequent legislative updates which will keeps you updated with the current occurring that help you act when necessary.
The fifth benefit that members have is exclusive savings, by this, members obtain discounts on practice resources and travel. As virtue of being a member, one obtains a $75 discount of applications made to American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board, members also have a discount on registration fee for AANP national conferences, which is the largest conference for nurse practitioners in the country. Members also enjoy savings from retailers and finance companies accredited to the members only.
Current Issues of Concern
There are current issues that AANP is concerned about, one of the issues being to improvement of healthcare-patient Access to services such as Home Healthcare, this is an issue of concern because nurse practitioners are not able to document assessments done to face-face patients, AANP has taken a step further to call on congress amendment of section Eighteen of social Security Act (Andrew, 2014). Another issue of concern is the improvement of Medicare Patient Access to Diabetic Patients, this issue is concerned because currently nurse practitioners send diabetic patients to physicians in order to get therapeutic shoes, AANP has also called upon Congress to support the improvement of patients with diabetes in the access of nurse practitioner care. The third issue of concern is the enabling of NPs participation as members of Hospital Staffs, this is because nurse practitioners are only appointment as medics staff members therefore obtaining few privileges as clinicians but cannot appeal for their rights. In order to address these pressing concerns, the AANP is working closely with the national government and the congress to ensure repealing of certain sections of the law in order to make changes.
Current Legislative Efforts being Done on Expanding the NP Scope of Practice
Different legislative efforts are being conducted so us to expand the nurse practitioner practice, insurance coverage of patient protection and affordable care act, this legislation promotes for extensive practice of nurse practitioners by being allowed to fully practice what they learnt in school so as to contribute to the expansion of their skills. A number of healthcare policies have also been done in an effort to expand the nurse practitioner practice, the Model Nursing Practice Act and administrative regulations have been made with an aim of changing the state in which laws are practiced. (Cafasso, 2015). Different legislations are being made on the payment of nurse practitioners, the Balanced budget Act of 1997 and the Healthcare Practitioner Incentive Act are some of the payment legislations pushed by AANP, NPs can now receive one hundred percent reimbursement for services to incident.
Reflection
My membership to American Association of Nurse Practitioner as a student can play a bigger role in the promotion of the nurse practitioner profession, it can do so by me volunteering my time and expertise in the insurance that NPs and the patients they deal with have a voice in any place that healthcare conversations are happening.
References
Andrew Scanlon, D. N. P., Denise Hibbert, R. G. N., Freda DeKeyser Ganz PhD, R. N., Linda East PhD, R. N., & Debbie Fraser MN, R. N. (2014). Addressing Issues Impacting Advanced Nursing Practice Worldwide. Online journal of issues in nursing , 19 (2), 1.
Cafasso, M. (2015). Advocacy: A Vital Step in Attaining Full Practice Authority for the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse. Doctoral Theses. Student Research & Creative Work. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5c62/527f13caaed05c6817dcfddf20bb95a0541d.pdf
Goolsby, M. J., & DuBois, J. C. (2017). Professional Organization Membership: Advancing the Nurse Practitioner Role. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners , 29 (8), 434-440.
Vogt, M. (2014). Program Development Plan Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program. Retrieved from https://www.ohio.edu/facultysenate/committees/ucc/upload/Doctor-of-Nursing-Practice-PDP-11-23-14.pdf on 8/7/2019.
