AMERICAN NURSES ASSOCIATION (ANA) BY: ALISHA ZYROWSKI ASHLEY CRUZ PATRICIA DERENZY

What is the American Nurses Association (ANA)? The American Nurses Association (ANA) is an organization that represents all of the registered nurses in the United States to help uphold standards that should be practiced in everyday care. The ANA helps to support the nursing practice, a realistic view of nursing, promote the rights of nurses at work and address Congress on health care issues that affect nurses and the public. The mission statement: “Nurses advancing our profession to improve health for all.” American Nurses Association (2014) About ANA. Retrieved April 22, 2014, from About ANA. Retrieved April 22, 2014, from

American Nurses Association Who is a part of the American Nurses Association?  Anyone can become a member. The ANA provides education to nurses that is accredited in practice standards care. The ANA maintains and adapts to the constant changing world of nursing will aligning with other groups to achieve the best care and health for everyone involved. How long has it been around?  The ANA started as 20 nurses attending a convention in 1896 to provided services to other nurses who were looking to continue their education, professional standards, economic and general welfare, research and better care for their patients. American Nurses Association (2014) About ANA. Retrieved April 22, 2014, from

Health and Safety Health and safety is a very important role in our everyday practice. It may be the most important thing nurses focus on. According to the American Nurse Association (2014) “A Healthy Work Environment is one that is safe, empowering, and satisfying. A place of “physical, mental, and social well-being,” supporting optimal health and safety. A culture of safety is paramount, in which all leaders, managers, health care workers, and ancillary staff have a responsibility as part of the patient centered team to perform with a sense of professionalism, accountability, transparency, involvement, efficiency, and effectiveness.” To create a safe environment facilities must include the following:  Safe patient handling – this includes using proper mechanics and equipment when transferring or repositioning patients. The American Nurses Association (ANA) works to prevent injuries in nurses that can be life changing.  Needle stick prevention – Nurses are exposed to many diseases every day they work. The ANA works to prevent nurses from needle sticks by teaching proper sharps handling, disposal and precautions to take.  Environmental Health – Do no harm. The ANA helps to reduce patient overload and empower the five rights of patients : Right patient, Right dose, Right medication, Right route, Right time American Nurses Association (2014), Health and Safety, Retrieved April 22, 2014 from

Code of Ethics According to the American Nurse Association (2001), “A code of ethics makes explicit the primary goals, values, and obligations of the profession” (p. 1) Purpose of this code of ethics:  Ethical guidelines for nurses to follow in their nursing practice  These are nonnegotiable ethical standards  Nurse’s commitment of care to society The American Nurses Association. (2001). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. Retrieved from world.org/MainMenueCategories/EthicsStandards/CodeofEthicsforNurses/Code- of-Ethics.pdfhttp://nurisng

Code of Ethics The code of ethics was created as an ethical guideline for nurses to follow while caring for patients. There are nine provisions in the code of ethics. “The first three describe the most fundamental values and commitments of the nurse: the next three address boundaries of duty and loyalty, and the last three address aspects of duties beyond individual patient encounters”. The nine provisions according to the American Nurses Association (2001) are:  Provision 1. The nurse, in all professional relationships, practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and uniqueness of every individual, unrestricted by considerations of social or economic status, personal attributes, or the nature of health problems.  Provision 2. The nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient, whether an individual, family, group, or community. The American Nurses Association. (2001). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. Retrieved from world.org/MainMenueCategories/EthicsStandards/CodeofEthicsforNurses/Code- of-Ethics.pdfhttp://nurisng

 Provision 3. The nurse promotes, advocates for, and strives to protect the health, safety, and rights of the patient.  Provision 4. The nurse is responsible and accountable for individual nursing practice and determines the appropriate delegation of tasks consistent with the nurse’s obligation to provide optimum patient care.  Provision 5. The nurse owes the same duties to self as to others, including the responsibility to preserve integrity and safety, to maintain competence, and to continue personal and professional growth.  Provision 6. The nurse participates in establishing, maintaining and improving health care environments and conditions of employment conducive to the provision of quality health care and consistent with the values of the profession through individual and collective action.  Provision 7. The nurse participates in the advancement of the profession through contributions to practice, education, administration, and knowledge development.  Provision 8. The nurse collaborates with other health professionals and the public in promoting community, national, and international efforts to meet health needs.  Provision 9. The profession of nursing, as represented by associations and their members, is responsible for articulating nursing values, for maintaining the integrity of the profession and its practice, and for shaping social policy. The American Nurses Association. (2001). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. Retrieved from world.org/MainMenueCategories/EthicsStandards/CodeofEthicsforNurses/Code-of-Ethics.pdfhttp://nurisng

Nursing Practice  The American Nurses Association formed a group called the National Center for Nursing Quality (NCNQ) in The NCNQ “advocates for nursing quality measurement, research, and collaborative learning” (American Nurses Association, 2014).  The NCNQ formed an initiative titled the National Database for Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI). The NDNQI is the “only national nursing quality measurement program that provides hospitals with unit-level performance comparison reports to state, national, and regional percentile distributions” (American Nurses Association, 2014). “NDNQI’s nursing-sensitive indicators reflect the structure, process, and outcomes of nursing care” (American Nurses Association, 2014) Through the use of the NDNQI, healthcare facilities are able to compare themselves to the national mean to see how they rate. This way of rating a facility is much more effective than rating from year to year their individual outcomes. The American Nurses Association. (2014). Access the NDNQI database for your research. Retrieved from tientSafetyQuality/Research-Measurement/Data-Access

Standardizing Nursing Language The standardization of language for nurses’ charting is supposed to make it so that a person from another healthcare facility, or even another state can understand and gain a complete picture of what a nurse’s note it trying to convey. The benefits of standardizing nursing language are:  Better communication among nurses & other healthcare providers  Increased visibility of nursing interventions  Improved patient care  Enhanced data collection to evaluate nursing care outcomes  Greater adherence to standards of care  Facilitated assessment of nursing competency Rutherford, M. (2008). Standardized nursing language: what does it mean for nursing practice? OJIN: The online journal of issues in nursing. Vol. 13 No. 1

Electronic Health Record  “The Electronic Health Record (EHR) is created when information from records created by a variety of agencies that are under different ownership is made available to other healthcare providers within a network” (Thede, 2008, para. 2).  “It is hoped that such a record will be a birth-to death electronic healthcare record” (Thede, 2008, para. 2). Thede, L. (2008). The electronic health record: Will nursing be on board when the ship leaves? OJIN: The online journal of issues in nursing. Vol. 13 No. 3 doi: /OJIN.Vol13NO03InfoCol01

Alisha Zyrowski In my current nursing practice the ANA practice standards influence my practice by guiding my nursing practice in the way that I should practice each day and every day. Every time I provide care for a patient I am assessing, diagnosing, planning outcomes, implementing, and evaluating the process. As nurses this is our goal every day for every patient. Each patient will have different diagnoses with different plans and outcomes, but these practice standards set the foundation for what every nurse must do.

Patricia Derenzy The ANA standards of practice affect my every day practice in so many ways. I had the opportunity to research how technology is changing so rapidly. Because of this, it is feasible that in the near future, everyone will have an electronic health record. While this is a wonderful thing and will increase communication among different healthcare providers, I must ensure that my charting is crystal clear, and I expect the same from others. Standardization of nursing language I feel is very important, and I strive every day that when someone reads my charting, they will know exactly what interventions I have done, why, and what those results were. That way, the next person can have an idea of what worked or did not work with this patient in the past.

Ashley Cruz The ANA has had many impacts on my daily practice. It is a guide that can be followed with standards when a nurse is unsure how to better themselves. It provides efficient and effective care. I work in an emergency department and we are constantly trying to improve our care by reducing useless time wasted. By implementing practice standards we are providing a better outcome for our patients in the best care possible. The ANA helps to ensure safety for patients as well as incorporate safety for nurses. Sometimes people forget that nurses need support as well and the American Nurses Association provides that.