Exploring the Importance of Professional Associations in Nursing

This essay explores the significance of professional associations in pediatric nursing, focusing on the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and its mission to improve child health. It highlights the importance of professional networking for career development and problem-solving, facilitated by associations through conferences and knowledge sharing. The essay also discusses how organizations like AAP keep members informed of healthcare changes through research, publications, and educational programs, emphasizing continuous learning and skill development. Ultimately, it underscores the role of these associations in enhancing individual capabilities and improving the quality of clinical outcomes in pediatric nursing.

Running head: IMPORTANCE OF PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS IN NURSING 1
Importance of Professional Associations in Nursing
Student’s Name
University

IMPORTANCE OF PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS IN NURSING 2
Importance of Professional Associations in Nursing
Significance of The American Academy of Pediatrics, its purpose, mission, and vision
The American Academy of Pediatrics was founded in 1930 with the main aim of
addressing the needs of children at that time. This is because the founders thought children had
special development and health needs that required better ways of dealing with them. Today its
mission is to attain optimal physical mental and social health for all people by supporting the
professional needs of its members. The vision of the association is to have all children and
adolescents achieve health mentally and physically (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2018).
Today, the membership of the association includes 58, 726 pediatricians and 4, 703 and lastly,
28,374 pediatric medical subspecialists, surgical specialist and other pediatric specialists
(American Academy of Pediatrics, 2018). The academy offers several membership categories
that vary depending on the qualification of the individual. The minimum membership dues are
$88 for resident members and the highest is $544 for specialty fellows and fellow membership.
The overall benefit for its members and nurses is to create a learning environment where
practitioners can increase their skills and become better practitioners to increase quality
outcomes. Through research and education, members benefit from the association through
increased knowledge and advocating for policy issues that relate to the profession. Thus the
association specifically offers members the opportunity for further education and also new
knowledge practices through research and publications on the latest issues affecting the
profession.
The association’s role today is to further professional development of its members
through education, annual scientific meetings, publications, seminars and statements from the
council. Further, the council executes original research in different areas to promote the needs of

IMPORTANCE OF PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS IN NURSING 3
the population. It further advocates for issues like safety legislation and Medicaid policies to
increase access to care. The organization funds its activities through membership dues, medical
education revenue and support from interested parties like corporations, government agencies,
grants, and contributions.
Why it is important for a nurse in the Pediatrics specialty field to network and how the
organization creates networking opportunities for nurses
Professional networking is important in pediatrics since it allows professionals to get
involved and become engaged with other practitioners in their area of specialty. This creates
career development opportunities through learning the areas that one can engage in as a
professional. In most cases, as people work more in their area of specialty, they develop more
knowledge and learn new areas that they can invest their abilities in (Khanum, et al., 2016). For
example, technology keeps on changing thus it is important for professionals to learn the changes
taking place in their profession through networking. Further, problem-solving is the most
difficult part that practitioners try to improve every time they face new situations. Through
networking, pediatricians can learn new ways of solving patient problems thus increasing the
quality of care and clinical outcomes (Catallo, Spalding, & Haghiri-Vijeh, 2014). For example,
one practitioner can take a different approach as compared to what the other takes thus working
together and sharing knowledge increases learning.
According to Green (2015), professional bodies create networking opportunities by
bringing together different professionals within their area of specialty to increase the sharing of
knowledge and views about their field of association. One way that the association creates
networking opportunities for nurses is where practitioners meet with other nurses who are far
ahead of them in their careers thus creating an opportunity to learn from them. From Benner’s

IMPORTANCE OF PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS IN NURSING 4
theory of nursing, acquisition of skill and development of nursing practitioners goes through five
stages of novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient and expert. This means that through
attending conferences, nurses can meet with other practitioners who have achieved higher skills
in the profession thus learn from them.
How the organization keeps its members informed of health care changes and changes to
practice that affects the specialty area.
To keep its members informed, the association invests in research, training and
development to create opportunities for members to learn at the same time share with them
knowledge on different practices that exist. The association also uses professional education,
annual scientific meetings, publications, seminars and statements from the council to
communicate to its members. To enhance learning and increase skill development, training and
education is used to equip practitioners with new skills from research while at the same time due
to the changing nature of technologies in the industry (Matthews, 2012). Members can read
publications, statements and even search the website to keep in touch with any changes in the
profession. Therefore, the association seeks to improve the knowledge, skills, and abilities of its
members to increase individual capability and quality of clinical outcomes.
Opportunities for continuing education and professional development.
The association promotes learning and education in different ways to empower
practitioners with proper skills in the sector. One way of doing this is through medical education
publications where the association conducts research on the latest news and issues affecting the
sector. Through its publications the association keeps practitioners informed and updated with
the trends in the sector (Milteer & Ginsburg, 2011). The association also offers online education
through links that are customized to meet the education needs of the individual. To increase the

IMPORTANCE OF PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS IN NURSING 5
quality of practice the association also delivers courses that focus on developing tools and
resources to address practice gaps, improve documentation and better engage with the field
(American Academy of Pediatrics, 2018). All these approaches seek to ensure that there is
increased development in different areas of the profession thus increasing quality practice.

IMPORTANCE OF PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS IN NURSING 6
References
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2018, December). About the American Academy of
Pediatrics. Retrieved from American Academy of Pediatrics:
https://www.healthychildren.org/English/Pages/About-AAP.aspx
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2018, December ). Mission, Vision & Core Values. Retrieved
from American Academy of Pediatrics: http://aapdc.org/about-dc-aap/mission-vision-
values/
Catallo, C., Spalding, K., & Haghiri-Vijeh, R. (2014). Nursing Professional Organizations: What
Are They Doing to Engage Nurses in Health Policy? Sage Open Journal, 5(1), 1-9.
Green, B. (2015). Understanding the value of professionals and professional bodies. Bracknell:
CIOB.
Khanum, S., Souza, M. d., Naz, N., Sasso, G. T., Brüggemann, O. M., & Heideman, I. T. (2016).
The Use of Networking in Nursing Practice —An Integrative Review. Societies, 6(22).
Matthews, J. (2012). Role of professional organizations in advocating for the nursing profession.
Online Journal of Issues Nursing, 17(1).
Milteer, R. M., & Ginsburg, K. R. (2011). The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child
Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bond: Focus on Children in Poverty.
Pediatrics, 5(2), 2014-2016.