NRS 433V Introduction To Nursing Research

The American Academy of Pediatrics was founded in 1930 with the main aim of addressing the needs of children at that time. This is because the founders thought children had special development and health needs that required better ways of dealing with them. Today its mission is to attain optimal physical mental and social health for all people by supporting the professional needs of its members.  The vision of the association is to have all children and adolescents achieve health mentally and physically (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2018). Today, the membership of the association includes 58, 726 pediatricians and 4, 703 and lastly, 28,374 pediatric medical subspecialists, surgical specialist and other pediatric specialists (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2018). The academy offers several membership categories that vary depending on the qualification of the individual. The minimum membership dues are $88 for resident members and the highest is $544 for specialty fellows and fellow membership. The overall benefit for its members and nurses is to create a learning environment where practitioners can increase their skills and become better practitioners to increase quality outcomes. Through research and education, members benefit from the association through increased knowledge and advocating for policy issues that relate to the profession. Thus the association specifically offers members the opportunity for further education and also new knowledge practices through research and publications on the latest issues affecting the profession.

The association’s role today is to further professional development of its members through education, annual scientific meetings, publications, seminars and statements from the council. Further, the council executes original research in different areas to promote the needs of the population. It further advocates for issues like safety legislation and Medicaid policies to increase access to care. The organization funds its activities through membership dues, medical education revenue and support from interested parties like corporations, government agencies, grants, and contributions.

Why it is important for a nurse in the Pediatrics specialty field to network and how the organization creates networking opportunities for nurses

Professional networking is important in pediatrics since it allows professionals to get involved and become engaged with other practitioners in their area of specialty.  This creates career development opportunities through learning the areas that one can engage in as a professional. In most cases, as people work more in their area of specialty, they develop more knowledge and learn new areas that they can invest their abilities in (Khanum, et al., 2016). For example, technology keeps on changing thus it is important for professionals to learn the changes taking place in their profession through networking. Further, problem-solving is the most difficult part that practitioners try to improve every time they face new situations. Through networking, pediatricians can learn new ways of solving patient problems thus increasing the quality of care and clinical outcomes (Catallo, Spalding, & Haghiri-Vijeh, 2014). For example, one practitioner can take a different approach as compared to what the other takes thus working together and sharing knowledge increases learning.

According to Green (2015), professional bodies create networking opportunities by bringing together different professionals within their area of specialty to increase the sharing of knowledge and views about their field of association. One way that the association creates networking opportunities for nurses is where practitioners meet with other nurses who are far ahead of them in their careers thus creating an opportunity to learn from them.  From Benner’s theory of nursing, acquisition of skill and development of nursing practitioners goes through five stages of novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient and expert. This means that through attending conferences, nurses can meet with other practitioners who have achieved higher skills in the profession thus learn from them.  

How the organization keeps its members informed of health care changes and changes to practice that affects the specialty area.

To keep its members informed, the association invests in research, training and development to create opportunities for members to learn at the same time share with them knowledge on different practices that exist. The association also uses professional education, annual scientific meetings, publications, seminars and statements from the council to communicate to its members. To enhance learning and increase skill development, training and education is used to equip practitioners with new skills from research while at the same time due to the changing nature of technologies in the industry (Matthews, 2012). Members can read publications, statements and even search the website to keep in touch with any changes in the profession. Therefore, the association seeks to improve the knowledge, skills, and abilities of its members to increase individual capability and quality of clinical outcomes.

Opportunities for continuing education and professional development.

The association promotes learning and education in different ways to empower practitioners with proper skills in the sector. One way of doing this is through medical education publications where the association conducts research on the latest news and issues affecting the sector. Through its publications the association keeps practitioners informed and updated with the trends in the sector (Milteer & Ginsburg, 2011). The association also offers online education through links that are customized to meet the education needs of the individual. To increase the quality of practice the association also delivers courses that focus on developing tools and resources to address practice gaps, improve documentation and better engage with the field (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2018).  All these approaches seek to ensure that there is increased development in different areas of the profession thus increasing quality practice.

References

American Academy of Pediatrics. (2018, December). About the American Academy of Pediatrics. Retrieved from American Academy of Pediatrics: https://www.healthychildren.org/English/Pages/About-AAP.aspx

American Academy of Pediatrics. (2018, December ). Mission, Vision & Core Values. Retrieved from American Academy of Pediatrics: https://aapdc.org/about-dc-aap/mission-vision-values/

Catallo, C., Spalding, K., & Haghiri-Vijeh, R. (2014). Nursing Professional Organizations: What Are They Doing to Engage Nurses in Health Policy? Sage Open Journal, 5(1), 1-9.

Green, B. (2015). Understanding the value of professionals and professional bodies. Bracknell: CIOB.

Khanum, S., Souza, M. d., Naz, N., Sasso, G. T., Brüggemann, O. M., & Heideman, I. T. (2016). The Use of Networking in Nursing Practice —An Integrative Review. Societies, 6(22).

Matthews, J. (2012). Role of professional organizations in advocating for the nursing profession. Online Journal of Issues Nursing, 17(1).

Milteer, R. M., & Ginsburg, K. R. (2011). The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bond: Focus on Children in Poverty. Pediatrics, 5(2), 2014-2016.