The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) is the largest national professional organization for nurse practitioners drawn from nursing specialties. This organization was formed in 2013 when the American College of Nurse Practitioners merged with the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (Hoyt & Proehl, 2013). Currently, the organization has 118,000 members, representing a nationwide vibrant community of nursing professionals
AANP Mission
The American Association of Nurse Practitioners' mission is to empower nurse practitioners so that they are in a position to use education, research, advocacy, and leadership to advance high-quality health care (American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 2021a).
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AANP Vision
The AANP vision is to promote the delivery of high-quality healthcare service by being resourceful to its diverse community of NPs. According to Thomas (2019), the AANP president has a vision of encouraging all NPs to join this organization since it can represent their interests. AANP Purpose
The American Association of Nurse Practitioners aims to support nursing practitioners who are believed to be the future of healthcare. Phogosyan et al. (2017) note that millions of Americans turn to nurse practitioners as the healthcare provider of choice. Nursing practitioners have the necessary skills to assess, diagnose, treat acute and chronic illnesses, coordinate care, and educate patients.
Benefits of Being an AANP Member
The American Association of Nurse Practitioners provides its members with free and high-quality continuing education to optimize their professional experience. This benefit meansthat members are poised to move to the next professional level (American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 2021b). Additionally AANP is a platform for maximizing members professional development through networking with others. AANP also engages in state and federal advocacy programs to ensure no barriers to receiving NP services across the country. AANP members get timely and relevant information and news from various journas and newsletters (American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 2021b). The last benefit of being a member is exclusive savings since the organization offers those discounts on travel, office supplies, and insurance and practice tools.
Why Nursing Practitioners Need to Network
Nurse practitioners are crucial multidisciplinary teams in the healthcare discourse since they possess immense skills and competencies. If they are to improve healthcare outcomes, then they have to network with other NPs and healthcare professionals. Goolsby & Knestrick (2017) note that networking creates relationships and opens doors that support professional development, new opportunities, policy activism, collaborative research, and evidence-based practice. Networking with professionals who specialize in other aspects of nursing or healthcare expands the practitioners' scope of practice, ultimately improving clinical outcomes.
How AANP Creates Networking Opportunities for Nurses
The American Association of Nurse Practitioners provides its members with networking opportunities. The main platform that AANP uses to create opportunities is conferences which enable members to receive continuing education and meet with other NPs to form long-standing relationships. The organization uses virtual networking through social media, where members have a chance to meet like-minded colleagues and discuss healthcare topics (The American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 2021c). AANP's Specialty Practice Groups are the most effective virtual networking fora where members share resources and tools for different specialties, topics, and therapeutic areas.
How AANP Organization Keeps its Members Informed of Health Care Changes and Changes to Practice that Affect the Specialty Area
The American Association of Nurse Practitioners has more than 118,000 members who need constant updates on healthcare and practice changes. The organization has adopted various strategies of communicating with its members to ensure that they are aware of these changes. One of the avenues that the organization uses is the AANP Smart Brief. This newsletter is published daily to ensure that members are updated on new healthcare developments (American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 2021d). The newsletter contains health-related news gathered from national media sources to ensure that NPs have the latest information. AANP relies on respected scholarly journals available for purchase by the nursing practitioners' community but free for its members. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (JAANP) is the official publication for this organization. The journal contains timely and peer-reviewed articles that focus on clinical management and practice, education research, health policy, and other issues that affect NPs (American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 2021d). The other journal is the Journal for Nurse Practitioners (JNP), which is published ten times every year. This journal helps NPs to be updated on policy and clinical concerns that affect their day-to-day practice.
Opportunities for Continuing Education and Professional Development
The American Association of Nurse Practitioners anticipates a rapidly changing healthcare field that necessitates evidence-based and current education. This education enhances NPs knowledge and improves their practice skills to provide their patients with the best care. AANP has hundreds of continuing education opportunities that are facilitated through the CE Center, which was developed by and for NPs. The center has a comprehensive program that has over 170 activities (American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 2021e). Members can access these activities in various forms, including the organization's journals. Additionally, AANP holds conferences that allow NPs to have professional practice and growth. These conferences offer hundreds of hands-on workshops and educational sessions each year which include a pharmacology credit (American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 2021e). Continuing education and professional development opportunities equip NPs with requisite skills and competencies to improve clinical outcomes.
Conclusion
Nurse practitioners who join professional organizations have a better chance of improving clinical outcomes as they offer career and educational advancement platforms. The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), is one of the largest professional organizations committed to improving NPs approach to care. Members benefit from continuing education, networking opportunities, and other resources. The organization has credible scholarly journals, most notably Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (JAANP ), which publishes evidence-based research. AANP uses various channels for informing its members about policy changes in the healthcare field. The benefits that AANP offers its members are enough reason for all NPs to join AANP if they are to achieve exponential professional growth.
References
American Association of Nurse Practitioners. (2021a). Strategic focus. https://www.aanp.org/about/about-the-american-association-of-nurse-practitioners-aanp/strategic-focus
American Association of Nursing Practitioners. (2021b). AANP member benefits. https://www.aanp.org/membership/member-benefits
American Association of Nursing Practitioners. (2021c). The importance of NP networking — and how to get involved . https://www.aanp.org/news-feed/the-importance-of-np-networking-and-how-to-get-involved
American Association of Nurse Practitioners. (2021d). Journals and publications . https://www.aanp.org/education/publications
American Association of Nurse Practitioners. (2021e). CE opportunities . https://www.aanp.org/education/ce-opportunities
Goolsby, M. J., & Knestrick, J. M. (2017). Effective professional networking. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 29 (8), 441–445. https://doi.org/10.1002/2327-6924.12484
Hoyt, K. S., & Proehl, J. A. (2013). AANP and ACNP merger. Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal , 35 (2), 91-92. doi: 10.1097/TME.0b013e31828ffde6
Poghosyan, L., Liu, J., & Norful, A. A. (2017). Nurse practitioners as primary care providers with their patient panels and organizational structures: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 74 (3),1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2017.05.004
Thomas, S. L. (2019). The new president has a global vision for AANP. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 15 (7), 9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2019.06.012
