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ANA Works to Shape |
ANA Continues to Fight
"I cannot see how we can fulfill our obligations as
members of a proud profession to promote the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being and
good health of the citizens of the world if we do not have enough humility to acknowledge the
economic poor health of the nursing profession and to speak out courageously through our own
organization to improve it."
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Advanced PracticeStandards of Practice: Concern about the quality of patient care led to the establishment of Divisions on Nursing Practice:
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Medicare/MedicaidIn 1965, Medicare and Medicaid extended health care benefits to millions of elderly and poor Americans. ANA, in spite of opposition from the American Medical Association, strongly supported these programs. "Day after day, nurses watch the numbers of the chronically ill increase. Sensitive to their patients' needs, they are acutely aware of the fears of patients and families who cannot foresee how they will continue to pay for decent medical care."Editorial, "Taking a Stand," AJN (September 1959), p. 1245 |
Nursing enlarged its ranks by providing funding for
minorities and those who could not afford nursing education:
1964 Nurse Training ActANA testified at congressional hearings in support of the Nurse Training Act, which provided $287 million in federal funding for nursing education.The Value of Nursing"Until nurses, themselves, put proper value on the services they render, no one else can do it; and so long as nurses and other employed health workers help to pay for health care by accepting inadequate salaries, the public will not really know its true cost."Editorial, "Money and Nursing," by Barbara G. Schutt, RN, AJN (November 1963), p.53. First Position Paper on Nursing Education"Education for those who work in nursing should take place in institutions of learning within the general system of education. Professional nursing practice is constant evaluation of the practice itself. It provides an opportunity for increased self-awareness and personal and professional fulfillment. It is asking questions and seeking answers--the research that adds to the body of theoretical knowledge. It is using this knowledge to improve services to patients and service programs to people. It is collaborating with those in other disciplines in research, in planning, and in implementing care. Further, it is transmitting the ever-expanding body of knowledge in nursing to those within the profession and outside of it."Such practice requires knowledge and skill of high order, theory oriented rather than technique oriented. It requires education which can only be obtained through a rigorous course of study in colleges and universities. Therefore, minimum preparation for beginning professional nursing practice at the present time should be baccalaureate degree education in nursing." "Position Paper on Education for Nursing," AJN (December 1965), p 107 |
Clinical Nursing Practice"The emphasis at the ANA Convention meeting May 14-18 in Detroit Michigan will be on clinical aspects of nursing practice. For the first time, in addition to the general and section meetings, 74 clinical papers will be presented by nurses during convention week at 21 clinical sessions...Topics at these clinical sessions focus on clinical nursing problems, use of research in nursing, and technical innovations and new scientific knowledge to improve patient care.""ANA Convention Week Preview," AJN (May 1962), p. 80 "During the initial meeting of the committee on May 19, 1961, the following criteria for the 1962 clinical sessions were established ... 3. The focus of the clinical session must be on nursing skills and knowledge needed in the care of the patient ... 5. Clinical data should be included in the sessions .... 6. Discussion of nursing care should include preventive and rehabilitative aspects and family aspects wherever pertinent..."
Resolution on the Clinical Practice of Nursing, Adopted by House of Delegates (May 16, 1962) |
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