The sphere of psychiatry is constantly developing, addressing the most effective treatment approaches for collaboration and health care. Establishing professional therapeutic alliances plays an important role in nursing and mental healthcare services to support clients, use the necessary skills, and improve knowledge in staff, patients, and their families (Hartley et al., 2020). Many profit and non-profit institutions promote resources, education prospects, and assessment recommendations to enhance positive treatment outcomes today. The American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) is one of the leading organizations in the psychiatric-mental health nursing sector. Its properly chosen goals, missions, and vision introduce various benefits, networking opportunities, data exchange channels, and education programs for personal and professional development for nurses at different levels. APNA membership contributes to high-level nursing care in hospitals and other healthcare facilities through employee engagement, involvement in meetings, attention to continuing education and training, and the promotion of core care values. The purpose of this project is to analyze APNA membership for psychiatric nurses in terms of their professional development, education, and practical opportunities.
Membership Description
APNA is significant to nurses in the area of psychiatry due to several reasons, including effective leadership, attention to cultural and social differences, collaboration, and knowledge improvement. This organization focuses on fulfilling its educational, charitable, and scientific purposes to help psychiatric-mental health nurses understand and improve the essence of care processes (About APNA, n.d.). The mission is not only to support nurses and provide them with specific opportunities but to ensure that high-quality care is properly delivered to culturally diverse individuals and communities. APNA’s vision statement is based on core values of empowerment, integrity, innovation, and transparency for all nurses ready to join the organization and follow its basic principles and regulations (About APNA, n.d.). Membership benefits or “perks” are exceptional resources and continuing education, making it possible for nurses to advance their profession, learn the best psychiatric-mental health practices, participate in conferences, and apply for grants (Why join?, n.d.). Nursing knowledge has to be constantly improved due to innovation, globalization, and the internationalization of care processes. Thus, APNA is a solid organization to cooperate with for achieving professionalism and perfection in the chosen specialty.
Networking Opportunities for Nurses
The connection between colleagues is an integral part of any nursing process, and APNA pays much attention to creating networking opportunities like conferences, meetings, online services, and group events. APNA takes multiple steps to empower its members with credible information access. For example, Member Bridge is the major discussion site where individuals join forums and share their opinions and knowledge about the latest topics and achievements in psychiatry (Why join?, n.d.). Nurses are also able to conduct their research projects and share the results in the Journal of American Psychiatric Nurses Association. There is also a collegial community where volunteers introduce their contributions to enrich the psychiatric field (Why join?, n.d.). The best practices are usually discussed at the Annual Conference initiated by the organization. Each opportunity is unique for nurses to learn something new, demonstrate personal achievements, and understand what directions are right and wrong in the preferred area.
Information Flow at APNA
The promotion of information about health care changes and recently approved practices is another critical goal of APNA. All members get a chance to use digital membership with the American Nurses Association and receive emails and publications in a short period (Why join?, n.d.). Instead of searching for the best and most credible sources, nurses enjoy the already filtered access to information. APNA also takes critical policy positions in mental health care as a particular discipline according to which psychiatric nurses should work (Kumar et al., 2020). All participants learn how to prescribe medications, diagnose patients, offer treatment plans, and prescribe medications, following clear standards and guidelines. This information flow promoted by APNA strengthens nursing practice and stabilizes mental health care services in most national facilities.
Education and Professional Development
Continuing education is one of the beneficial opportunities for APNA members. Currently, the organization promotes more than 230 online sessions and programs, and nurses are free to apply for four sessions each month (Why join?, n.d.). In addition to free access, members get some bonus points that are saved and can be applied for different choices and preferences. Professional growth is vital for modern nurses because they should have some guarantees that their membership and practice can be developed and improved and their skills are always up-to-date (Mlambo et al., 2021). When nurses participate in local events sponsored by APNA, they establish new connections and exchange their resumes to detect the best options for their career growth.
Conclusion
APNA offers multiple benefits for nurses in the psychiatric-mental health care area. The organization has clear goals and vision and rationally uses resources to support professional growth and education. It is not enough to have some background nursing knowledge but to ensure its development in various directions. Attention to networking opportunities and stable information flow cannot be ignored because nurses should know how to exchange knowledge and understand if skill improvement is possible. APNA membership covers the need for communication and practical awareness in the best way for all nurses.
References
About APNA. (n.d.). American Psychiatric Nurses Association. Web.
Hartley, S., Raphael, J., Lovell, K., & Berry, K. (2020). Effective nurse–patient relationships in mental health care: A systematic review of interventions to improve the therapeutic alliance. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 102. Web.
Kumar, A., Kearney, A., Hoskins, K., & Iyengar, A. (2020). The role of psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners in improving mental and behavioral health care delivery for children and adolescents in multiple settings. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 34(5), 275-280. Web.
Mlambo, M., Silén, C., & McGrath, C. (2021). Lifelong learning and nurses’ continuing professional development, a metasynthesis of the literature. BMC Nursing, 20(1). Web.
Why join? (n.d.). American Psychiatric Nurses Association. Web.