Together, We Are Making a Difference

Article Outline

• A Stronger Voice
• Additional Benefits
• Copyright

• 
  • View Large Image
  • Download to PowerPoint

In the little more than a year that has passed since AORN and the American Nurses Association (ANA) agreed to join forces in an individual affiliate partnership, our country has seen the promise of long-awaited health care reform finally begin to take shape. We also have seen the challenge of a worsening global economy put our professionalism to the test by stretching our already understaffed workforce to the maximum. Nurses are now at the forefront of strategic planning that will change the way our nation approaches both issues. The strategic alliance we have formed—and its resulting strength in numbers—has enabled nurses to become major players in the debates currently shaping our nation's health care and economic strategies.

Back to Article Outline

A Stronger Voice 

AORN members should know that through their partnership with the ANA, they have a stronger voice on Capitol Hill and in state legislatures as we advocate for much needed reform that maximizes our values and nursing's integral role in health care. The ANA and AORN have flexed our collective political muscle from the Capitol to the White House, and together, we have represented nurses in several high-level summits on the most important issues facing our nation.

Through our powerful collaboration, the ANA and, by extension, AORN participated in two key presidential health care summits in March: the White House Health Care Summit and the White House Regional Forum on Health Reform. With a united presence, we were the only nursing organizations invited to participate at these events.

During the 2008 presidential election, AORN joined the ANA at both the Democratic and Republican national conventions to be sure that the nation's nurses were heard. Since the election, we have worked together tirelessly to continue to bring our case to Washington. Perioperative nurses, and indeed all nurses, have benefited from the cooperation of our two organizations as we spearhead nurse-friendly legislation at the national level.

Another sterling example of how our two organizations work together to influence policy occurred on February 5, 2009, when AORN Executive Director Linda Groah, RN, MSN, CNOR, CNAA, FAAN, joined the ANA as a panelist for our congressional luncheon briefing titled Nursing Primer: The Registered Nurses' Role in Health Care Reform. These types of outreach activities are critical to bringing our role in health care to the fore, and they would not be possible without the coordination of our two organizations.

Through these and other efforts, the ANA and AORN have represented the needs of America's 2.9 million nurses and their patients by informing policy on such issues as safe staffing, needle-stick prevention, workplace safety, and health care reform.

Back to Article Outline

Additional Benefits 

AORN members, through their affiliate membership in the ANA, gain many tangible member benefits. These include members-only access to ANA periodicals: The American Nurse, American Nurse Today, and OJIN: the Online Journal of Issues in Nursing; access to ANA policy statements and publication archives; free and discounted continuing education; and SmartBriefs, daily news feeds that cover the hottest trends in nursing.

But the real benefit AORN members—and ANA members alike—receive from our unique relationship is the strength in numbers that allows us to enhance the lives of America's nurses and their patients. Together, we are stronger, and together, we are making a difference.