ESSAY : Professional Advocacy through Association Membership

Professional advocacy is about supporting the interests of one’s profession. Professional associations advocate for their members by uniting as a single voice and taking action to advance or remove barriers to the profession. Nurse practitioners (NPs) unite in member-created associations and organizations at many different levels: local, state, national, and international. They unite as specialty groups to further the goals or interests of their profession. Each of these organizations has a purpose or mission, membership benefits, and role in professional advocacy. While individually the NP may be able to contact a legislator on an issue of concern, a professional organization has the collective power of being able to be heard in numbers. These organizations are poised to take the course of action needed to influence the stakeholders. Just as these groups take action to make change, individual NPs must take action to promote their own professional interests and causes. One of the best ways a professional can support their profession is by joining an association or organization.

Directions

In a 3–5 page paper address the following:

Join the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.
Discuss the mission and vision of this organization.
Describe the requirements for membership.
Explain at least five benefits to belonging to this organization.
Demonstrate understanding of the advocacy efforts of this organization by answering the following:
What are the current key issues of concern (name at least three)?
What actions are being taken by this organization to address these concerns?
What current legislative efforts are being done by this organization in one of the following areas:
expanding the NP scope of practice
NP regulation of practice
Healthcare policy
Payment issues
Prescriptive privileges
Reflect on how your membership to this organization can promote the NP profession.

SAMPLE SOLUTION

Professional Advocacy through Association Membership
American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP)
Professional advocacy is a fundamental approach that helps people to support the interests of their profession. Various associations and organizations exist in the healthcare continuum to help practitioners act with due diligence and respect while serving their clients (Xue et al., 2016). Some of the major nurse practitioner association in the US include AANP, NAPNAP, WHNP, GAPNA, NONPF, and DNP. These organizations advocate for their members by uniting all professionals and taking action to mitigate possible barriers that hinder progress in the nursing profession. NPs unite member-created organizations and associations that perform roles at different levels such as local, international, state, national level. The purpose of this essay is to discuss and focus on…