Professional Association Membership

Professional Association Membership

[Institutional Affiliation(s)]

Author Note

Critical Care Nursing

A critical care nurse is the one who works with the patient who is deemed critically ill. Critical Care Nurses are considered the patient's advocate when a patient is very susceptible. They are also involved in educating patients about various healthcare options in critical situations. They are also supposed to monitor the patients' comfort and care for the patient's family in traumatic events. Such nurses may perform their duties in Intensive Care Units, Emergency Wards and Step-down Units.

American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN)

AACN is the world's largest non-profit organization for specialty nursing. It is a community of critical care nurses, which offer expert and personal support in pursuit of the best possible patient care. According to the American Nursing Association, professional development is an important element in nursing education to augment professional nursing competence and practice ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"6OYsQhSn","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(About American Association of Critical-Care Nurses - AACN n.d.)","plainCitation":"(About American Association of Critical-Care Nurses - AACN n.d.)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":235,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/55bqtMd8/items/UY6GMUWB"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/55bqtMd8/items/UY6GMUWB"],"itemData":{"id":235,"type":"webpage","title":"About American Association of Critical-Care Nurses - AACN","URL":"https://www.aacn.org/about-aacn","accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",10,9]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (About the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses - AACN n.d.). AACN is dedicated to producing best Nursing staff for critical care services, by providing expert knowledge and encouragement to fulfil their promise with patients and their families. The organization is envisioned to develop a healthcare system in which critical care nurses ensure optimal participation.

Perks of being a member of AACN

Membership with the American Association of Critical Nursing provides me with a certification opportunity in critical care nursing. It gives me a chance to enhance my role-related to competencies, by attending educational conferences.

Being a member of AACN, I can enjoy following perks:

Free access to CE activities, which provides me with the knowledge and tools to give optimal care to my patients.

Free subscriptions for AACN’s nationally recognized journals.

Access the clinical resources related to AACN webinars, Practice Alerts and CSI Academy projects.

Access to “MyAACN dashboard" for tracking of CE hours, CERP progress, certification status and more.

Discounts on most AACN products and events, including our annual NTI Conference, certification exams and study resources, pocket cards and online store items, and more.

Free shipping on product orders of $75 or above.

Eligibility for a wide range of scholarships, grants and awards.

Discounted subscription to the quarterly journal AACN Advanced Critical Care.

Optional discounted insurance benefits, including professional liability, long-term care and pet insurance.

Personalized "Collections" online library of your favourite AACN resources and information.

Professional Networking for a Critical Care Nurse

It is an opportunity for nurses to get involved in professional networking and to interact with nursing experts. One of the main advantages of networking in critical care nursing is the opportunities it brings for career development and advancement.

Professional networking proves helpful for a nurse to get the fundamental knowledge essential for taking the next step in career advancement. Professional networks are associated with quality patient care, it enables the nurses to meet the healthcare demands of the patients, evidence-based practice, and to manage the variations of in-patient care.

AACN is an advocate for its member nurses. It helps me in building relationships with other professionals by creating a social networking environment. This helps me in establishing an identity for myself and allows me to engage with experts and find a potential job. AACN also arrange interactive sessions for their nurses to teach them how to expand the professional circle in international conferences.

Health care changes and changes to practice

AACN encourages its community to develop the nursing profession by working in alliance with other organizations and lend their voice for the advancement of this profession.

AACN engage their members to work with other nursing and healthcare organizations, to make them informed about any changes in healthcare. AACN keeps their members aware of changes in nursing practice and health care development through bulletin alerts and Newsletters. They also engage their workforce with the "Bureau of Health Professionals", to get the updated information in the healthcare system.

Opportunities for continuing education and professional development

AACN offers continuing educational and professional development scholarships to its members. The organization is envisioned to promote lifelong learning and professional growth. AACN provides funds for academic activities on merit basis. Scholarships are provided to the members after analyzing the gaps between their skills and knowledge.

AACN provides various opportunities to its members, including health policy education, evidence-based practice, conferences, skills to build a healthy working environment, leadership development, local events on health sciences, and personal growth and communications. The minimum amount of funded scholarship in each year is Up to $3,000 per person, and some additional amount in the name of partial funding may also be awarded. Funds are sent directly to the members of the organization. AACN provides the best quality education and practice to all its members, to ensure, optimal patient care.

References

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY “About American Association of Critical-Care Nurses - AACN.” https://www.aacn.org/about-aacn (October 9, 2019).