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Who We Are: ANA's Statement of Purpose
The American Nurses Association (ANA) is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's entire registered nurse population.
From the halls of Congress and federal agencies to the board rooms, hospitals
and other health care facilities, the ANA is the strongest voice for the
nursing profession. It is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland.
The ANA represents the interests of the nation's 2.9 million registered nurses through its 54 constituent member associations and over 150,000 members.
Dedicated to ensuring that an adequate supply of highly-skilled and well-educated nurses is available, the ANA is committed to meeting the needs of nurses as well as health care consumers. The ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the general public.
The ANA is at the forefront of policy initiatives pertaining to health care reform. Among the priority issues are: a restructured health care system that delivers primary health care in community based settings; an expanded role for registered nurses and advanced practice nurses in the delivery of basic and primary health care; obtaining federal funding for nurse education and training; and helping to change and improve the health care workplace.
Through the ANA's political and legislative program, the association has taken firm positions on a range of issues including Medicare reform, patients rights, appropriate staffing, the importance of safer needle devices, whistleblower protections for health care workers, adequate reimbursement for health care services and access to health care. The ANA and its state nurses associations' lobbying efforts are contributing to health care reform on both state and national levels.
The ANA continues its efforts to expand the scientific and research base for nursing practice, for the collective bargaining rights and workplace advocacy for all nurses, to gain better compensation and better working conditions for nurses, and to implement new ways in which nursing services can be delivered to respond to current and future demands for cost-effective, quality health care.
The ANA-affiliated organizations include the American
Nurses Foundation, the American Academy of Nursing and the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
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Who We Are 
