Free American Nurses Association Essay Sample

The main professional specialty organization of my choice is the American Nurses Association (ANA). This is a national association of all registered nurses in the United States which was initiated in 1896 with the objective of improving healthcare standards. The organization fosters higher standards of the nursing practice by promoting the rights of nurses in their work places through projection of positive and realistic perception on nursing profession. The association has got the mandate to lobby the Congress and other regulatory agencies to initiate and pass bills on healthcare issues which affect nurses and the public at large.

The ANA includes 54 constituent associations found in 50 states in the US. The Congress is also instrumental in evaluating changes in the process of practice. It encourages research and monitors educational and scientific developments while initiating certain policies that affect nursing practice. This paper reviews two bills deemed necessary for ANA. The first bill is titled Single Payer Health Care Coverage while the second bill is SB 122 which concerns nursing practices and deals with BRN Sunset Issue. The bills have significant impact on the association of American Nurses because they affect them directly or indirectly in their professional field (American Nurses Association, 2012). They are important since they are legislated by the Congress.

The first bill - Single Payer Health Care Coverage is mainly concerned with the establishment of State Healthcare System through creation of a State Healthcare Agency. The main important feature of this bill is that it makes all American residents eligible for a special healthcare benefits. There are several aspects regarding the bill that make it important. The system would be managed through a single payer basis. The bill provides for negotiations on set fees for healthcare services system and the payment of any claims on such services. This makes this legislation very crucial for people and healthcare workers, especially for the registered nurses. The bill is also important because it creates the Healthcare Policy Board which deals with policies affecting the healthcare system. This is why the bill must be lobbied to pass through the House when voting takes place.

The Impact of the Bill on the Nursing and Healthcare

The bill has a significant impact on the healthcare and nursing profession when it is voted through by the legislators. This is because existing laws have got no provision for universal coverage for the healthcare for California residents with limited income and other eligibility requirements. This will automatically influence the healthcare system in the United States because California healthcare system is integrated into the American Nurses Association. The benefits of the bill will majorly include the Healthy Family Programs which will be administered by Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board and the medical program under administration of State Department of Health Care Services. The existing law helps in the regulation of the healthcare plans through the department of care management and health insurers.

The bill will also establish healthcare system which will be administered by the created healthcare agency under the control of healthcare commissioner who is appointed by State governor. This brings the management of the healthcare system closer to people. Therefore, the bill will effectively contribute to positive developments in terms of offering health services.  In addition, apart form administration of units created, the bill will facilitate healthcare benefits for people. The single payer system will contribute to negotiations about set fees for the health care provided through the system and ensure that necessary payments for claims are made promptly.

The other major advantage of the bill is that it will allow the commissioner to seek all necessary waivers, agreements, exceptions, or legislation. This allows existing federal, state, and other local healthcare payments to be made through the system.  This will facilitate the services for which such payments were made hence reduce the financial burden of the citizens. In addition, the bill will create a Healthcare Policy Board which is responsible for creating policies on healthcare programs (American Nurses Association, 2012). Within the created agency, the bill also provides for creation of Office of Patient Advocacy to represent interests of users of health care services. In addition there is a possibility to create Office of Health Planning which helps in planning for the health care needs of the population.

There is also a provision of establishing Health Care Quality department headed by the chief medical officer who will support delivery of high quality care which helps to satisfy patient’s needs. This will have major positive impact on healthcare system due to improved services and close monitoring. In addition, the Office of Inspector General will be created within the Attorney Generals office which is vested with oversight powers. The system structure for administering healthcare is very important due to distribution of responsibilities to the respective authorities at all levels to ensure proper medical services are offered to patients.

Reasons Why This Bill on Health Care Will Pass Into Law

The bill will pass to law because it comes with structural reform in the healthcare management system (American Nurses Association, 2012). Most legislators had supported the bill and it is likely that no legislators resisted the passage. It also gives some powers to the governor hence there is political goodwill on the bill. This ensures proper mobilization of both democrats and republican members of the Congress to ensure that the bill is passed. The policies entrenched in the bill are coherent with a goal of federal government to offer affordable healthcare system for American people, especially for citizens of middle and lower income level.

The American Nursing Association is also supporting the bill. This gives the bill strength because the healthcare professionals have approved its passage. In addition, the other reason why the bill is likely to pass through is because it was passed by the Senate committee on Health and Rules. This committee has the power to reject it, but found that the bill is instrumental for transformation of the American healthcare system. The amendments have been made on the bill which changed the clause that was not popular with the legislatures and the ANA as a whole. In general, following the trend of debate on the bill passing through Senate Committee on Rules and Senate Committee on Appropriations, these are arms on the legislative process which have shown commitment to the passage of the bill even if it is delayed. The popular move by California State in initiating the bill was very important because the support emanated from the State level to the Federal level which helped it in the sense that most people had interest in the legislation process.

The Second Bill for Legislation and Its Importance

The second bill is SB 122 which concerns nursing and deals with BRN Sunset Issue. The bill is authored by Senator Price. The bill is to be amended with policies which include fees for feasibility studies and the self studies. The bill has got accreditation as required by the Federal Department of Education.  The bill includes the amendment of section 2709 of the Business and Professional Code which states: “The board for the purpose of transacting its business shall meet at least once every three months, times and places it designates by resolution” (American Nurses Association, 2012). In section 2709, the bill is amended to reflect that any nursing school or nursing program has to be approved by the board.  The Board only shall approve cases whereby course of instruction has been approved by the Board and takes at least two academic years. The bill is also important because it defines an institution of higher learning and the respective professional nursing course offered in colleges and universities. This shows the major options in the legislative process that help in regulation of the nursing schools. This ensures that qualified professionals in the field of nursing are trained. This in its turn will improve the general health care system.

The Impact of the Bill on Nursing and Healthcare

The passing of the bill into law will help health sector to develop and implement many health care programs. One major impact is that it will contribute to high level of professionalism in the nursing field. Nursing schools will be able to educate and train the best qualified nurses. As a result, this will eventually improve the quality of health care offered to American people. In this bill there is a provision on constituting the board which will design the subject instruction for the student nurses to be registered.

The amendment of the bill on business and professional code in section 2798 influences health professionals because it guides the operation and conduct of all schools of nursing (American Nurses Association, 2012). This is very important because it will increase the overall level of professionalism in training of nurses who can consequently be considered for registration by the nursing board. This decreases the number of low quality colleges that offer inadequate training for the nurses. This impact is positive because the American nursing association only considers registered nurses who are qualified and have had adequate training in well-known institutions of training with strong academic reputation. The bill will be able to establish certain guidelines and decrease the number of illegal training schools (American Nurses Association, 2012). This will be one of the impacts when the bill is passed to law. The regulation of the health sector through training of high-quality professionals may result in establishing unlawful colleges offering nursing courses, hence the ANA will be strengthened through this bill.

Reasons Why This Bill on Health Care Will Pass Into Law

Passage of this bill into law will ensure discipline in the professional conduct of nurses. Therefore, it will be instrumental in enhancing development agenda of ANA. The ANA fully supports the bill and wants it to be passed. The other reason for its passage is that the legislatures have made a positive move towards making amendments and have finally created the bill which is seen as crucial for transforming training institutions through the health education program.

The formation of the board through the bill shows institutional reform which is important for the development of the education sector by adhering to the rules guiding the training profession. The fact that the bill had passed through with a support of the majority of votes and passed through the fiscal committee shows that there are equally high chances of its passage into law.

Persuading the Legislatures to Support the Two Bills

When persuading the legislators to support the two bills, it is clear that the bills must be advocated and promoted by a professional body. Through involvement of professional body it is possible to make legislatures believe that they are dealing with people knowledgeable in this field. Through this, the government relations committee on the organization can be very helpful in supporting the legislation to help it pass through with a majority of votes.  

Another way of persuading legislatures is through money donations to the responsible political committees. For instance, contacting the action committee for nursing can be very useful in promoting the passage of the bills in the House (Patterson, 2011).  In addition, the nurses can communicate directly with their respective legislatures and explain the needs for passing the bills. The legislatures will recognize their voters when approached in this way (Patterson, 2011). When many nurses use this tactic, the bills can win majority votes.  This process of contacting the legislators can be effective if it involves visits to the legislatures. They will be able to understand the seriousness of the matter. All these measures when done professionally can enable the legislatures to pass the bills on time.

Development of Personal Career Plan

Making of personal carrier plan is matching personal skills and other interests with a given occupation to create a career goal. Then the decision on the steps needed to be taken is made in line with the personal career goal and objective. This is my career plan:

Career goal

To become a senior physical therapist nurse. I will be able to offer guidance to other physical therapist while suggesting on appropriate treatment procedures.

Requirements

• Training in the nursing school, need to have bachelors’ degree in nursing and related job experience in health sector;
• Having excellent communication skills and being a critical thinker;
• Should be able to conduct monitoring and evaluation of given health circumstances;
• Being a good time manager and service oriented person;
• Learning strategies and other procedures during solving problems;
• Should have good writing and language skills to effectively communicate with patients;
• Have knowledge of health sciences and biology;
• Ability to work as a part of the team.

Current skills and interests

• Summer work for BC nursing facility;
• Served as class representative for two years;
• Volunteer at the special center for the physically disabled people;
• High school level of biology knowledge;
• High school science units;
• Experience in team formation and control;
• High school mathematics.

Activities after three years

• Seeking job internship while in college;
• Associate degree from institution of higher learning;
• Work directly at the ABC nursing home to gain more experience;
• Being able to complete three 30 hour sessions of observation on physical therapy;
• Working on creation of health care home where physical therapy sessions are conducted more often.

Activities after five years

• Able to handle many patients at bigger hospitals;
• Dealing with many people in the health profession;
• Creation of strong professional network to enhance development;
• Establishment of personal physiotherapy center for a bigger number of patients.

Membership in professional organizations

• Joining the American nursing association for professional development;
• Member of ANA California.

Resume

• Worked with ABC health care system where relevant professional experience was obtained;
• Five year experience in conducting physiotherapy up to senior level;
• Administrative officer on health care issues dealing with physiotherapy programs.

Professional organizations are important for development of personal career objectives. This is because professionals continue to interact with people in the same field hence more networking is developed.  For instance, the already discussed case is in the ANA professional organization. The American Nursing Association is an important player  in promoting the agenda of nurses in the United States. The association must work in line with the legislative body namely the Congress and the Senate to support such bills aimed to improve the healthcare system.

The two bills affect the healthcare services quality level and training of the nurses. The impact of the bills when passed into law is very important for the health sector. In order to ensure the passage of the bills in the House, the ANA got the mandate to support the bill which reinforces the association of nurses with strong foundation in professional developments. The quality of health care system is equally important as is the training of nurses. Properly trained professionals will adhere to the professional code of conduct and ethics. The bills must be fully supported by the legislatures and the associations. The political goodwill plays an important role in enactment and passage of the bills.

Finally, it is crucial to develop personal career plan which can help an individual in achieving his or her dream profession. This is especially relevant in nursing profession because dealing with patients is a skill that requires personal interest and real professional training. 

 

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