Professionalism in Nursing 1

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Becoming a nurse is more than just performing patient assessments, passing medications,
and charting. When entering the nursing profession one feels a sense of pride, an ethical
obligation, and a desire to uphold a certain image nurses want to display. To its members, guide
nursing behaviors, are instrumental in clinical decision making, and influence how nurses think
about themselves (Creasia & Friberg, 2011, p. 49). The professions values give direction and
meaninAs a new graduate nurses are overwhelm with learning the technical components of
nurses and the desire to uphold the image of the nursing profession can be placed on the back
burner. As nurses pass the novice stage of the career their core values provide the desire to
expand their scope of practice, or clinical autonomy. Becoming a member of a professional
nursing organization allows nurses to expand their clinical autonomy and provide a structure for
the exercise of autonomy and accountability to ensure that quality services will be provided by
competent professionals (Creasia & Friberg, 2011, p. 63).
A professional organization is an organization of practitioners who judge one another as
professionally competent and have banded together to perform social functions which they can
perform in their separate capacity as individuals (Creasia & Friberg, 2011, p 63. A professional
nursing organization such as the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses requires its
members to display specific core values and guiding principles that contribute to the
advancement of neuroscience nursing as a specialty through the development and support of
nurses to promote excellence in patient care (American Association of Neuroscience Nurses).
The members of the AANN share values such as excellence, innovation, collaboration, integrity,
and visionary. AANN members also think strategically in order to achieve the organizations
goals of advancement in nursing, are results-oriented and focus on outcomes by assessing
efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and quality; use benchmarks and/or historical data when
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available to evaluate performance. (AANN). It is not necessary to be a RN to join the AANN,
but it is a requirement that a member must be a RN in order to vote and hold office in the
organization.
Becoming a member of the AANN comes with a myriad of social and educational
opportunities. The AANN has eight Special Focus Groups and they include: Advanced Practice
Nurse, Epilepsy, Movement Disorders, Neuromuscular/MS, Neuro-oncology, Neurotrauma,
Pediatrics, Spine, and Stroke. Membership also provides opportunities for volunteering, AANN
publications, an ANA eMembership, education advancement, and a discount on fees for a CNRN
certification. The AANN supports the Certified Neuroscience Registered Nurse (CNRN)
certification and offers members assistance with fees in order to promote professional and
education development of its members.. The CNRN certification is accredited by the
Accreditation Board for Specialty Nursing Certification (ABSNC), helps hospitals achieve or
maintain a Magnet status and a CNRN certified nurse is a high caliber nurse with a strong
commitment to neuroscience nursing. Members are also associated with the many partnerships
the AANN has secured such as the Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, and alliances with the
American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA), the Neuroscience
Nurses Foundation (NNF), We Move, the World Federation of Neuroscience Nurses (WFNN),
the World Parkinson Congress, and many more. In the current issue of the Journal of
Neuroscience Nursing there is an article that researched the factors that influence the decision of
treatment options in MS patients. The study showed that there is a core theme when it comes to a
MS patients decision about treatment. The core theme included reflection about self-image,
quality of life, goals, and being a person with MS (Lowden, Virginia, & Ritchie2014).
According to Lowden et. al (2014), common themes supporting this core theme were (a)
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weighing a deciding whats important, (b) acknowledging the illness as part of oneself, (c)
playing the mental game, (d) seeking credible resources, evaluating symptoms and fit with
quality of life, and (f) managing the roles and involvement of family.
The AANN participates in The Nursing Community in order to address specific nursing
issues and promote the professional stature of nursing. The Nursing Community is a forum for
national professional nursing associations to build consensus and advocate on a wide spectrum of
healthcare and nursing issues, including practice, education, and research (AANN). Another
way the AANN promotes nursing professionalism is through its Advocacy Committee. The
purpose of the Advocacy Committee is to educate, inform, and encourage people interested in
healthcare issues to become knowledgeable about the legislative process and become involved in
health policy advocacy. Please use this information to take action to support neuroscience nurses
to improve the nation's healthcare system (AANN). In order for an organization to promote
professionalism there must be a role model that portrays the characteristics of a professional. The
president of the AANN is Megan Keiser, RN DNP CNRN NP-C. Being not only a RN,
receiving a CNRN certification, the president of the AANN, Megan Keiser, is also a Doctor of
Nursing Practice (DNP). According to Creasia & Friberg, (2011), the extent to which the
profession attracts and uses the people who earn the most respected advanced degrees and then
gives those people the opportunity to be role models and spokespersons for nursing will
determine how the profession will grow in viability, usefulness, and esteem.



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Works Cited
American Association of Neuroscience Nurses. (nd).Retrieved from
http://www.aann.org/about/content/aannboard.html
Creasia, J. L. & Friberg, E.E. (Eds.). (2011). Conceptual foundations: The bridge to professional
nursing practice (5th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby Elsevier.
Lowden, D., Lee, V., & Richie, J.A. (2014). Redefining Self: Patients Decision Making About
Treatment for Multiple Sclerosis. Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, 46 (4), doi
1097/JNN.0000000000000064.



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