Created by: Katie Lewandowski, Charles Dietrich, Brianna Hall, and Elizabeth Mitchell

 The American Nurses Association (ANA) is the only full-service professional organization representing the interests of the nation's 3.1 million registered nurses through its constituent and state nurses associations and its organizational affiliates (ANA, 2012).  The ANA is a national organization open to all graduate nurses.

 The ANA is an example of a broad-purpose association.  Individual nurses who belong to the ANA typically become members of their state’s constituent member association (Chitty & Black, 2012).  The ANA’s main focuses are standards of care, code of ethics, continuing education, and collective action around workplace issues (Chitty & Black, 2011).

 In 1893 at the Chicago Worlds Fair there were conferences and conventions held at the expo.  One of the conferences included nursing topics.  Ultimately what came out of that conference, chaired by Isabel Hampton Robb was to find a way to create a separation between educated nurses and the uneducated.

 After the 1893 World Fair conference there was talk among nurses to form a professional association and unite other nurses and set a goal towards licensure.  That first step towards an association began with the Nurses Associated Alumnae of the United States and Canada.

 There was a split from the organization in 1911 by the Canadians who ended up forming their own association.  It was at this time that the association changed its name to the American Nurses Association.

 Isabel Hampton Robb, 1883 graduate of Bellevue Hospital’s nursing school, was a brilliant leader.  She helped organize and became the first president in 1897 of the American Nurses Association.

 The ANA is a organization dedicated to advancing the nursing profession. The organization works to promote their values and beliefs by:  Lobbying congress on behalf of nurses.  Promoting economic and general welfare of nurses.  Maintaining high standards in nursing.

 The ANA acts as the “voice” of the nursing profession by lobbying at both state and national levels to:  Promote legislature affecting health care reform.  Expand the role of the RN and the advanced practice nurse.  Obtain funding to promote nursing education.  Implement changes that improve the health care environment.

 The ANA works with regulatory agencies in each state to promote the general welfare of nursing. Some of the areas the ANA advocates for in regards to the workplace include:  appropriate staffing  whistleblower protection  sexual harassment

 The ANA is committed to high standards within nursing by encouraging well-educated and highly skilled nurses.  The ANA has a set of six Standards of Practice and ten Standards of Professional Performance that represent the minimum skill level each RN should be practicing.  The ANA also works to protect nursing by advocating for expansion of the scope of practice for both RN’s and advance practice nurses.

 A complete list of the current ANA position statements can be found at:

 “Nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations” (ANA, 2012).

 The definition has many different components… 1. Nurses help nurse patients back to health. 2. Nurses can teach to promote a healthy lifestyle and prevention of disease processes. 3. Nurses can use the nursing process to treat a patient holistically. 4. Nurses treat not only a single patient, but also the family and community.

 Nursing assessment and treatment.  Collaborating with a team to establish care.  Give all types of medications.  Provide care to wounded areas.  Make judgments and contact needed team members.  Promote health in the community.  Conduct research and follow evidence based practice (ANA, 2012).

 Continually learning, researching and growing  Developing new skill sets  Developing more autonomy in different areas  Being asked to do more All of the previous statements can be accomplished and done well because of ANA’s practice standards.

 The ANA was founded by Isabel Hampton Robb.  The ANA advances the nursing profession by…  Fostering high standards of nursing practice.  Promoting the rights of nurses in the workplace.  Projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing.  Lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public (ANA, 2012).

 Currently, working on a cardiac unit in the hospital, the ANA practice standards guide many things in her nursing practice.  Most significant at this point as a new nurse is the education portion.  The ANA recommends a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing in this field. It also recommends certification.  The hospital Elizabeth nurse works for requires ECG certification and ACLS completion along with a Bachelor’s Degree because of the ANA recommendations.

 Elizabeth is currently pursuing certifications and furthering her education to increase her knowledge and skills in cardiac health.  She uses the nursing process, assessment, diagnosis, planning, and evaluation, which are considered standards of nursing through the ANA.  Ethically Elizabeth is learning about her scope of practice and ethics standards through the ANA as well (Anderson, 2010, pp. 8-9).

 In her current practice area as a medical/surgical nurse, ANA practice standards influence her nursing practice by providing a framework for the care she delivers.  The ANA practice standards are benchmark criteria for the minimum level of nursing care.  Through best evidence research the ANA has developed positions on each practice standard statement.  By reading and reflecting on each practice standard competency she can organize her nursing care to both be safe and effective.

 The Michigan Public health code for nursing is very general in his opinion. The paragraph about using our knowledge to help the “individuals who are experiencing changes in the normal health processes ……..” This to him is just common sense being in the field that he chose.  He has personally taken a step farther by finding ways to further educate himself to help people in safer ways.  His goal is to expand his practice to many areas of nursing.  In another paragraph within the Michigan code, he does have to say that the responsibility of LPN’s and Na’s is a constant reminder that they also work under his license. Which makes him accountable that they do their job in the end.

 In Katie’s current practice area of medical/surgical nursing, ANA practice standards influence her nursing practice by staffing and documentation principles.  The 2012 ANA Principles for Nurse Staffing identify the major elements needed to achieve optimal staffing, which enhances the delivery of safe, quality care (ANA, 2012).  Clear, accurate, and accessible documentation is an essential element of safe, quality, evidence-based nursing practice. The RN and the APRN are responsible and accountable for the nursing documentation that is used throughout her organization (ANA, 2012).

 American Nurses Association [ANA]. (2012). Official ANA Position Statements. Retrieved from  American Nurses Association [ANA]. (2012). Statement of Purpose. Retrieved from AboutANA/ANAsStatementofPurpose.html  American Nurses Association [ANA]. (2012). What is nursing? Retrieved from: Nursing  American Nurses Association [ANA]. (2010). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice (2 nd ed). Silver Spring, MD: Author  American Nurses Association. (2012). ANA History. In Nursing World. Retrieved November 28, 2012, from NA/History

 Anderson, T. (2010). Cardiovascular nursing: scope and standards of practice (2008). Nebraska Nurse, 43(2), 8-9.  Chitty, K.K., & Black, B.P. (2011). Professional nursing: Concepts and challenges (6 th ed.) Maryland Heights, MO: Saunders  Egenes, K. (n.d.). History of Nursing (p. 13). N.p.: Jones and Bartlett. Retrieved November 28, 2012, from 258_ch01_roux.pdf  Michigan Legislative Website. (2009). Public Health code Act 368 of Retrieved November 28, 2012, from mzwydxa3tt555%29%29/mileg.aspx?p age=getObject&objectName=mcl