By Dawn Whiteside
For the 22nd year in a row, nursing has been recognized by the public as the most trusted profession (Walker, 2024). The public is exposed to the nursing profession through personal interaction but also through the representation of nursing through professional organizations. Professional nursing organizations (PNO) are key to representing the specialized knowledge, ethics, and values that are foundational to the profession (Castaños, & Bowden, 2024). PNOs provide numerous benefits to the profession that include guiding principles, national standards of practice, legislative efforts to improve the profession and ultimately patient care, and opportunities for continuous professional development.
The National League of Nursing (NLN) became a benchmark as the first PNOs. “As the nursing profession developed, leaders identified that a network to share best practices and establish standards for training would be beneficial, which led to the creation of the American Society of Superintendents of Training Schools for Nurses in 1893; since 1952, this has been known as the National League of Nursing” (Smith, 2024, p. 311). The NLN is the leader in nursing education and was transformative in shaping the future of nursing (NLN, n.d.). With the focus of excellence in nursing education, the NLN provides professional development resources, networking opportunities for peer-to-peer support, nursing research grants, and advocates for public policy changes to support the nursing profession (NLN, n.d.). “The National League for Nursing is an organizational member of the Institute for Credentialing Excellence, for demonstrating an understanding of best practices in credentialing and how to incorporate them into daily activities and specific roles” (NLN, n.d.). As a PNO, the NLN offers innumerable opportunities for continuous professional development through conferences and continuing education. Improving healthcare through standard setting, professional development, and national advocacy is a commonality among all PNOs.
The PNO representing the approximately 4 million registered nurses in the United States is the American Nurses Association (ANA). The ANA was founded in 1896, shortly after the NLN. The goals of the ANA include establishing high standards of nursing practice, promoting a safe and ethical environment in the work setting, improving the health and wellness of all nurses, and advocacy for nurses and the public related to health care issues (ANA, n.d.). The ANA is the legislative voice for the entire nursing profession. The Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements (the Code) is written by the ANA. The Code provides ethical standards for the nursing profession and is a guide for nurses to use in decision-making throughout their clinical practice (Fowler, 2017). The Code details the obligations, values, and ideals of the nursing profession and self-care for the individual nurse. Provision 5 of the Code states that the nurse owes the same care to self as others (Fowler, 2017). The importance of membership in PNOs is represented in Provision 9 of the Code. Provision 9 states, “The profession of nursing, collectively through its professional organizations, must articulate nursing values, maintain the integrity of the profession, and integrate principles of social justice into nursing and health policy” (Fowler, 2017, v.). The perioperative specialty PNO, the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN), has created a perioperative specific document that incorporates the Code into professional surgical practice.
AORN developed the Perioperative Explications for the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements based on the ANA’s Code of Ethics. These Explications offer perioperative-specific examples for each provision of the Code, enabling perioperative nurses to apply them directly to their practice (AORN, 2017). In 1949, AORN was created to form a national community of perioperative nurses. AORN provides evidence-based guidelines, clinical resources to support clinical practice, and continuing education for professional development. AORN is also the author of the Perioperative Professional Practice Standards and the Guidelines for Perioperative Practice. All the published material from AORN provides the necessary resources to guide all perioperative nurses in our ability to demonstrate safe quality patient care. As the ANA is the legislative voice of all registered nurses, AORN is the legislative voice of the perioperative community. As a member of AORN, you have access to the AORN Journal that contains much information about perioperative nursing practice, improving patient care, and professional development opportunities. It is essential, and part of the Code, that nurses stay current and demonstrate competence for clinical practice. As new guidelines are added or updated based on research-based evidence, content is published in the Journal for the community of perioperative nurses to comment on and learn the latest updates. The culmination of professional development for the perioperative nursing community is the annual AORN Global Surgical Conference and Expo held in the spring.
As the perioperative certification organization, the Competency & Credentialing Institute (CCI) supports membership in PNOs. To establish competency, perioperative nurses must use current evidence to inform clinical practice. Meaningful continuing education is required for nurses to stay up to date with the fast-paced changes in health technology and practice-based knowledge. “Certification validates an individual’s knowledge and skills in a defined role and clinical area of practice, based on predetermined standards” (ANA, 2012, p. 4). These predetermined standards are established through PNOs. CCI attends the Surgical Conference and Expo every year to show our support for our membership organization but primarily to demonstrate support for our community of perioperative nurses. CCI will be thanking our community with some giveaways at our booth (1817) that will include a limited number of our CNOR Exam Prep Books. Attending Surgical Conference and Expo is our favorite opportunity to see our nurses in person, thank them for the important work that they do on the frontline every day, support them on their certification journey, and provide any assistance required for our community of professionals to be successful in their career.
– Dawn Whiteside, DNP, MSN-Ed, RN, CNOR, NPD-BC, RNFA is the Director of Education and Professional Development of the Competency & Credentialing Institute. Dr. Whiteside has over 35 years of experience as a perioperative nurse in many roles including circulator, scrub, first assistant, team leader, charge nurse, manager, and educator. She serves on the ABSNC Board of Directors as well as the editorial board for MD Publishing. As an educator, Dr. Whiteside is passionate about developing educational materials for all members of the perioperative team.
References:
American Nurses Association (ANA). (n.d.). About ANA. https://www.nursingworld.org/ana/about-ana/
Certification. American Nurses Credentialing Center. 2012. http://nursecredentialing.org/Certification/CertMisc/WhyCertify.pdf.
Fowler FM. Guide to the Code of Ethics for Nurse: With Interpretive Statements: Development, Interpretation, wand Application. 2nd ed. American Nurses Association; 2015.
AORN’s Perioperative Explications for the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements. 2017. https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/nursing-excellence/ethics/code-of-ethics-for-nurses/
Castaños, L., & Bowden, V. R. (2024). Knowledge-to-Action. Advancing Nursing Excellence: The Role of Professional Nursing Organizations. Pediatric Nursing, 50(5), 254–259. https://doi-org.edgewood.idm.oclc.org/10.62116/PNJ.2024.50.5.254
Cline, D., Curtin, K., & Johnston, P. A. (2019). Professional Organization Membership: The benefits of increasing nursing participation. Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, 23(5), 543–546. https://doi-org.edgewood.idm.oclc.org/10.1188/19.CJON.543-546
National League of Nursing (NLN). (n.d.). History of the National League for Nursing. https://www.nln.org/about/about/overview
Smith, N. C. (2024). President’s Message. Professional Nursing Organizations — Historical Cornerstone and Relevant for the Future of Nursing. Nephrology Nursing Journal, 51(4), 311–312. https://doi-org.edgewood.idm.oclc.org/10.37526/1526-744X.2024.51.4.311
Walker, A. (2024, January 23). Nursing ranked as the most trusted profession for 22nd year in a row. Nurse.org. https://nurse.org/articles/nursing-ranked-most-honest-profession/
