Professional nursing organizations exist to provide information, support, leadership, scholarship, and avenues for change for the profession of nursing. Four important organizations are American Nurses Association (ANA), New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), National League for Nursing (NLN), and the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. Each of these organizations has specific goals and plans for the nursing profession.

The American Nurses Association (ANA) is a wonderful organization located in Washington, DC. The ANA has over 180,000 members. The members consist of registered nurses that want to make a difference in their profession. The mission of the ANA is to “work for the improvement of health standards and availability of health care services for all people, foster high standards for nursing, stimulate and promote the professional development of nurses, and advance their economic and general welfare”(ANA, 2003). The ANA represents the interests of America’s 2.6 million registered nurses. The ANA has fifty-four constituent state and territorial associations. Twenty-four of the fifty-four serve as collective bargaining agents for

The last nursing organization I will be talking about is the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. Sigma Theta Tau was actually founded by six nursing students at Indiana State University, in 1922. Since then the number of members has grown to over 300,000. There are currently 120,000 active members, making Sigma Theta Tau the second largest nursing organization in the world. To become a member of Sigma Theta Tau, you must be invited in. Only nurses, graduate nursing students, and baccalaureate nursing students that show excellence and scholarship in their profession are asked to join. The Sigma Theta Tau has members is more than 90 countries and territories. There are 424 different chapters of the Sigma Theta Tau on over 523 college and university campuses all over the world. The vision of Sigma Theta Tau is to “create a global community of nurses who lead in using scholarship, knowledge and technology to improve the health of the world's people” (Sigma Theta Tau, 2003). Some of the ways the Sigma Theta Tau implements its vision are as follows: by increasing the scientific base of the nursing process and in turn improving the health of people worldwide, by advancing nursing research in health care delivery and public policy, and by funding nursing research projects to improve the quality of nursing care.

One unique feature of the ANA is its ability to lobby legislatures and public officials to make a difference. Healthcare reform is one of the ANAs specialties. They have already made major changes in the healthcare system and are working on so many more. One issue that the ANA took a strong stand on was safer needle stick devices. They felt that too many needle stick injuries were happening during health care delivery. Thanks to their efforts it is mandatory to have retractable needle devices available. Some other important issues that ANA has taken a stand on are Medicare reform, patient rights, whistleblower protections for healthcare workers, adequate reimbursement for healthcare services, and easy access to healthcare. As you can see from the list of issues the ANA is not only concerned about the health care workers but the healthcare recipients as well.

Another important nursing organization is the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA). The NYSNA is a constituent of the American Nurses Association. The goal of the NYSNA is to promote optimal nursing and healthcare service

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