I actually retired from nursing just at the beginning of Covid, actually due to 2 surgeries and a death in the family. I was nearing the end of my career but I must admit I’ve thought about going back to help out. But I don’t think I could do it anymore. It’s just too hard and it s either their way or the Highway. I never felt a bond to Ana as well. Nursing was more than a career for me it defined me. I miss it but don’t think I could do it anymore. Thank you for the opportunity to write out my feelings.
Hi Fay--Thank you for commenting. I feel your pain, I really do. People ask me if I will return to clinical work and I say that I'm figuring it out, but the truth is, I use your very words to myself: I don't think I can do it anymore. Having been a cancer patient I have no patience with the BS and the impulse to subordinate all human feelings to the drive to make money. Nursing was more than a career for me, too. I hope you are able to enjoy your retirement--big hugs and take care.
Thank you! Although some would say I left the ANA due to hard feelings about the way I was treated during the National Nurse Campaign, this could not be further from the truth. I was appalled by their decision not to endorse a presidential candidate in 2016, thus trying to play this race taking both sides after we already knew that DJT was a racist, a bigot, a liar and basically the antithesis of everything the ANA Code of Ethics stands for. I could not pay money or belong to an organization that reminds me of a country club. You are right Theresa-advocacy is so much more than lip service. I’d rather spend my time, energy, and $ being a leader in Moms Demand Action, volunteering as a lead for Covid vaccine clinics for our BIPOC community, serving as a second grade classroom volunteer, being a Democratic Neighbor Leader, and helping out Nurses For America who actually are altruistic advocates. You have so much to offer and I know you will find your home.
Teri, this is such a lovely comment--thank you. I hear you about volunteering elsewhere and I may give my attention to gun safety efforts in the fall. I also appreciate you bringing in the ANA code of ethics. Surely, that code of ethics requires the ANA to give more than lip service to safe staffing, but they don't. Surely also, self-care cannot be an ethically supported solution to being so short-staffed that patients die who would not have otherwise. Where is the ethics in that? Not to mention the point you raise--DJT was unacceptable as a President from the point of view of nursing ethics. A national organization that does not embrace its own values is pretty lost, or at the very least, not worth much to the people it is supposed to represent.
I read Healing and after each chapter I stopped and really thought about what you had written. So many thoughts went through my head, so many of my experiences at work and with my family’s experiences with the health care system.
I would like to encourage ALL nurses to join us at Nurses for America (nursesforamerica.net)
Nurses for America is a group of nurses (formerly Nurses for Biden/Harris) advocating to support nurses, democracy, Biden/Harris policies, voter rights, health equity, reproductive rights, gun control, and candidates who support these policies in the 2022 midterms.
We have 145 days left until the midterms and we need you NOW.
Great article--and a wise decision too. I despise “self-care” when it’s offered as a replacement for true solutions. Self-care more often than not means burdening already over-burdened people with yet another task. And you are right that there is in fact an easy solution to the nursing shortage (which works for the teacher shortage too): pay them more!
The hunky guy they chose for that shower ad is sure easy on the eyes, though!
Hi Mari--Arthur (husband) found the hunky guy in the Waterpik ad hilarious. Maybe I'm supposed to be glad it wasn't a woman in a "naughty nurse" outfit. But to your more serious point, I despise how the idea of "self-care" has become a way to blame struggling people for their distress. It just occurred to me, too, that if management really wants to encourage self-care among nurses they should absolutely increase nurses' pay. With more money, nurses can afford all the massages and yoga classes their hearts' desire. With the nice byproduct of feeling they are actually being paid what they are worth.
Yes, yes, yes! Agree with all your reasons and criticisms of ANA. This year I decided NOT to renew my membership to the Ohio Assoc of Advanced Practice Nurses which I co founded over 35 years ago. The fire in the belly about the politics of health care we started with has become a mild and comfortable stance to where saying we have many members who are Ds and many who are Rs is a reason not to endorse a candidate or get involved with candidate endorsements. I reached out to OAAPN multiple times in the past year. If they replied it was not as advocates of advanced practice nurses, but keepers of the status quo. Advanced practice nurses need to use the political capital we have earned over the years and put it to good use. Join nursesforamerica.net and see how nurse activists are trying to shape the future. It's free but the dividends will be bountiful.
Wow, Eileen! That must have been such a tough decision for you. I applaud your courage in leaving OAAPN. Thank you also for highlighting Nurses for America. You are using that organization to support political actions that embody nursing's core values. No matter whether Rs or Ds, we should all support respect for and tolerance of all as an ethical political stance.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, I re-evaluated my professional memberships and let lapse two of them: the ANA was one of these two. When I worked as a bedside Nurse, it consistently astonished me that the ANA had virtually no presence in any of the hospitals I was familiar with - and speaking with co-workers, they had no idea that the ANA was even a thing. Now as a Nurse Practitioner, the RNs in our clinic also have no idea the ANA is a thing. I bought into - supported - the ANA because I also felt an obligation to contribute to something bigger for Nurses; an organization I could believe in. But the more critically I looked and as time went on...the evidence that the ANA deserves this belief just isn't there. Advocacy is not calling us "heroes" and placating us by saying "take care of yourself." Help us create the space to do our job - to care. THAT'S advocacy. Do better, ANA.
I agree 100% When I became a nurse I joined the ANA without thinking about it. Now that faith in the organization seems like naïveté. You are right that they do not deserve the respect or money of rank and file nurses, and don't get me started on the State Associations. Covid was a test of all of us, and in my view the ANA really failed. I mean really. Thank you for writing and for letting me know how little the ANA meant to so many nurses you worked with. That simple statement says a lot about their lack of reach and ambition. Take care!
AMEN! ANA has no clue what is going on at the bedside, or they just don't care! The JCAHO is another. Where was JCAHO through COVID-19? Hospital were far from maintaining standards at that time!
Cathy--you are right about the Joint Commission. Imagine, they could fix nurse staffing tomorrow by building accreditation around all urban teaching hospitals (at a minimum) adhering to staffing ratios for nurses and other ancillary staff. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid could do the same--keep staffing ratios or no more government money. I say urban teaching hospitals only because I'm sure there are safety-net and rural hospitals struggling financially. The problem is, no one who could do the right thing in this situation will, and the ANA could be applying that pressure, but they don't. Hope you are doing well!
Thank you great article. It is frustrating that they are the "go to" public representation of nurses. I remember all those nurse leaders standing with Trump, no masks, during the height of COVID, while I was at the bedside risking my life.
Oh gosh--you bring up a good point. For people reading the comments, that photo-op really happened and it was embarrassing for nursing, but also painful. I cannot imagine how betrayed you must have felt to be literally risking your life at work while the American Nurses Association was all nods and smiles with President Trump and none of them wore masks. We have to make a better world for nurses. I will keep trying to do just that. Hugs to you!
I have been a nurse for over 45 yrs. I have never joined the ANA. I have joined the California Nurses Assoc & Mich Nurses Assoc. Both seem advocate for issues such as safe staffing ratios etc. I was semi retired. I came back to nursing 2 yrs ago to help with COVID vaccinations. I was a travel nurse & also worked as a temp. Working over 50 hrs per week with little guarantee of overtime pay or set schedule was extremely difficult.
Thank you for sharing your story, Nancy. I am glad to hear that some state nursing associations do work for nurses. Here in PA I don't see them advocating on behalf of nurses, or if they do, it's in a form that doesn't get a lot of attention. I hear you that working 50 hours per week without knowing if you would get overtime, or work a set schedule was very difficult. It really would not be that hard to treat nurses with more institutional respect, and the lesson from Covid seems to be that if hospitals don't start doing that, they will be short nurses for a long time to come. All my best to you!
The ANA is obviously another bloated bureaucracy that is far-removed from its members with a facade mission. I never saw an advocacy or positive impact from the ANA in 22 years a practicing ICU RN & 15 years a CRNP. One would ponder that if the organization is not absolutely true to nurses, what are they really about.
I like your question--what is the ANA really about? What gets to me the most is that they talk a good game, at least on their website, and they seem to care about nurses, but then they do...nothing. Or if they are doing anything really helpful for nurses during the ongoing emergency that is Covid, no one hears about it and it makes no difference. I'm sure you are right about the bloated bureaucracy. Shouldn't someone involved want better for the organization, though? I wish that were the case. Take care!
Thank you for your time to reply. My belief is watch what they do(or don’t do) & not what they say. The commercial interest with WaterPik to capitalize on the human suffering of nurses and patients was very telling to me. Warmest regards & thanks for all you do.
You called it: partnering with Waterpik to make money off nurses' suffering is, well, not the ANA's mission, and kind of gross (can't think of a more "adult" word). You are wise to say watch what they do--not what they say.
Thank you for this column. When I graduated from my BSN program back in 1975 it was assumed that one would join the ANA. I did, of course but soon found that it was theory and a whole lot of politics. I did not renew because then and now it does not represent those of us who have provided care at the patient/ client level. Their purpose is self promotion for a few who may or may not have ever been at the bedside or clinic or school. Who is running the show there anyway- are they even in the nursing profession currently or just lobbyists? Just so out of touch.
I really appreciate this comment, Mary! In 1975 you wised up to the reality of the ANA much quicker than I did. It took Covid for me to see that they sometimes talk the talk, but the walk is not getting walked. That is so sad. Because, as you say, if the point is self-promotion, who is running the show? Are they even in the nursing profession in any kind of real way? For me, the importance and value of nursing is our boots on the ground doing of the job. It took a pandemic for me to see that the rank-and-file are really not supported by the ANA. Wishing you all the best!
I don't think that my criticisms can be described as "unfair." Surely as a member of the ANA I have the right to declare that I don't see the organization living up to its ideals.
On a different note, if you aren't familiar with the research on nurse staffing and patient mortality, give it a look. The results have been duplicated in multiple settings. It's a key issue for patients and central to providing safe, quality care.
Thank you for your timely response to my opinion about your recent blog, in which you were unfairly critical toward the ANA. I am proud to be an active member of the ANA and I support their long and reputable advocacy for mission. I respectfully disagree with the positions you expressed in your blog and the response to my opinion.
In fact, I am an active ANA member who disagrees with the opinions voiced in this blog for two reasons. First, as for political candidate endorsements, some ANA constituents, like ANA-Maine, for example, are non-profit 501(c) 3 corporations and thereby are prevented by law from being political partisans. Furthermore, endorsing one candidate leaves open the potential for criticism from others that may also want endorsements; and it is just not the mission of the ANA to be engaged in overt partisan politics. ANA's PAC does make endorsements, but that is their purpose. Meanwhile, the ANA has supported the PPE initiatives in all of its many forms and criticized obstructed progress related to future emergencies. As for safe staffing, everyone supports this, but there is a California Nurses Association position on this, yet no substantial data to support the law. Nevertheless, there is plenty of anxiety among rural health care providers about how mandating staffing will harm access to care. Professional nurses must consider the advances supported by the ANA to protect the safety, and integrity of nursing and the intentions to be forthcoming with the data about best staffing practices.
My understanding is that the ANA endorsed Hilary Clinton and I know they worked strongly (and correctly, I would argue) to help pass the Affordable Care Act. My argument was not partisan--it was about then-President Trump not taking every action possible to protect nurses from Covid. I'm not making a political argument.
There is an abundance of data to support staffing ratios--I'm not sure why you say the data isn't there. See the work of Jack Needleman at UCLA and Linda Aiken at U Penn, among others.
Finally, the solution to understaffing at rural hospitals is to use state and/or national incentives to bring in more nurses, not to insist that all hospitals be allowed to be understaffed--that solution makes no sense at all for patients or overall quality of care.
In your last sentence you say that professional nurses must support ANA "to protect safety," but the whole point of my column is that by focusing on self-care, rather than real issues like staffing and compensation (and difficult work environments overall) the ANA does not keep nurses safe. The ANA's choices prioritize the status quo over nurses' well being. I want them to do what they say they are going to do. That should not be a tall order, and yet it seems to be.
I actually retired from nursing just at the beginning of Covid, actually due to 2 surgeries and a death in the family. I was nearing the end of my career but I must admit I’ve thought about going back to help out. But I don’t think I could do it anymore. It’s just too hard and it s either their way or the Highway. I never felt a bond to Ana as well. Nursing was more than a career for me it defined me. I miss it but don’t think I could do it anymore. Thank you for the opportunity to write out my feelings.
Hi Fay--Thank you for commenting. I feel your pain, I really do. People ask me if I will return to clinical work and I say that I'm figuring it out, but the truth is, I use your very words to myself: I don't think I can do it anymore. Having been a cancer patient I have no patience with the BS and the impulse to subordinate all human feelings to the drive to make money. Nursing was more than a career for me, too. I hope you are able to enjoy your retirement--big hugs and take care.
Thank you! Although some would say I left the ANA due to hard feelings about the way I was treated during the National Nurse Campaign, this could not be further from the truth. I was appalled by their decision not to endorse a presidential candidate in 2016, thus trying to play this race taking both sides after we already knew that DJT was a racist, a bigot, a liar and basically the antithesis of everything the ANA Code of Ethics stands for. I could not pay money or belong to an organization that reminds me of a country club. You are right Theresa-advocacy is so much more than lip service. I’d rather spend my time, energy, and $ being a leader in Moms Demand Action, volunteering as a lead for Covid vaccine clinics for our BIPOC community, serving as a second grade classroom volunteer, being a Democratic Neighbor Leader, and helping out Nurses For America who actually are altruistic advocates. You have so much to offer and I know you will find your home.
Teri, this is such a lovely comment--thank you. I hear you about volunteering elsewhere and I may give my attention to gun safety efforts in the fall. I also appreciate you bringing in the ANA code of ethics. Surely, that code of ethics requires the ANA to give more than lip service to safe staffing, but they don't. Surely also, self-care cannot be an ethically supported solution to being so short-staffed that patients die who would not have otherwise. Where is the ethics in that? Not to mention the point you raise--DJT was unacceptable as a President from the point of view of nursing ethics. A national organization that does not embrace its own values is pretty lost, or at the very least, not worth much to the people it is supposed to represent.
Theresa-Thank you!
I read Healing and after each chapter I stopped and really thought about what you had written. So many thoughts went through my head, so many of my experiences at work and with my family’s experiences with the health care system.
Please continue doing what you are doing!
Thank you, Mary for this encouragement! I plan to keep busy doing what I'm doing. All my best!
I would like to encourage ALL nurses to join us at Nurses for America (nursesforamerica.net)
Nurses for America is a group of nurses (formerly Nurses for Biden/Harris) advocating to support nurses, democracy, Biden/Harris policies, voter rights, health equity, reproductive rights, gun control, and candidates who support these policies in the 2022 midterms.
We have 145 days left until the midterms and we need you NOW.
This is a good organization with values that nurses can get behind. Thank you for posting here, Erin!
Great article--and a wise decision too. I despise “self-care” when it’s offered as a replacement for true solutions. Self-care more often than not means burdening already over-burdened people with yet another task. And you are right that there is in fact an easy solution to the nursing shortage (which works for the teacher shortage too): pay them more!
The hunky guy they chose for that shower ad is sure easy on the eyes, though!
Hi Mari--Arthur (husband) found the hunky guy in the Waterpik ad hilarious. Maybe I'm supposed to be glad it wasn't a woman in a "naughty nurse" outfit. But to your more serious point, I despise how the idea of "self-care" has become a way to blame struggling people for their distress. It just occurred to me, too, that if management really wants to encourage self-care among nurses they should absolutely increase nurses' pay. With more money, nurses can afford all the massages and yoga classes their hearts' desire. With the nice byproduct of feeling they are actually being paid what they are worth.
Yes, yes, yes! Agree with all your reasons and criticisms of ANA. This year I decided NOT to renew my membership to the Ohio Assoc of Advanced Practice Nurses which I co founded over 35 years ago. The fire in the belly about the politics of health care we started with has become a mild and comfortable stance to where saying we have many members who are Ds and many who are Rs is a reason not to endorse a candidate or get involved with candidate endorsements. I reached out to OAAPN multiple times in the past year. If they replied it was not as advocates of advanced practice nurses, but keepers of the status quo. Advanced practice nurses need to use the political capital we have earned over the years and put it to good use. Join nursesforamerica.net and see how nurse activists are trying to shape the future. It's free but the dividends will be bountiful.
Wow, Eileen! That must have been such a tough decision for you. I applaud your courage in leaving OAAPN. Thank you also for highlighting Nurses for America. You are using that organization to support political actions that embody nursing's core values. No matter whether Rs or Ds, we should all support respect for and tolerance of all as an ethical political stance.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, I re-evaluated my professional memberships and let lapse two of them: the ANA was one of these two. When I worked as a bedside Nurse, it consistently astonished me that the ANA had virtually no presence in any of the hospitals I was familiar with - and speaking with co-workers, they had no idea that the ANA was even a thing. Now as a Nurse Practitioner, the RNs in our clinic also have no idea the ANA is a thing. I bought into - supported - the ANA because I also felt an obligation to contribute to something bigger for Nurses; an organization I could believe in. But the more critically I looked and as time went on...the evidence that the ANA deserves this belief just isn't there. Advocacy is not calling us "heroes" and placating us by saying "take care of yourself." Help us create the space to do our job - to care. THAT'S advocacy. Do better, ANA.
I agree 100% When I became a nurse I joined the ANA without thinking about it. Now that faith in the organization seems like naïveté. You are right that they do not deserve the respect or money of rank and file nurses, and don't get me started on the State Associations. Covid was a test of all of us, and in my view the ANA really failed. I mean really. Thank you for writing and for letting me know how little the ANA meant to so many nurses you worked with. That simple statement says a lot about their lack of reach and ambition. Take care!
Thank you for putting into words so well - on a bigger stage - the sentiments I share! Care to you as well!
AMEN! ANA has no clue what is going on at the bedside, or they just don't care! The JCAHO is another. Where was JCAHO through COVID-19? Hospital were far from maintaining standards at that time!
Cathy--you are right about the Joint Commission. Imagine, they could fix nurse staffing tomorrow by building accreditation around all urban teaching hospitals (at a minimum) adhering to staffing ratios for nurses and other ancillary staff. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid could do the same--keep staffing ratios or no more government money. I say urban teaching hospitals only because I'm sure there are safety-net and rural hospitals struggling financially. The problem is, no one who could do the right thing in this situation will, and the ANA could be applying that pressure, but they don't. Hope you are doing well!
Thank you great article. It is frustrating that they are the "go to" public representation of nurses. I remember all those nurse leaders standing with Trump, no masks, during the height of COVID, while I was at the bedside risking my life.
Oh gosh--you bring up a good point. For people reading the comments, that photo-op really happened and it was embarrassing for nursing, but also painful. I cannot imagine how betrayed you must have felt to be literally risking your life at work while the American Nurses Association was all nods and smiles with President Trump and none of them wore masks. We have to make a better world for nurses. I will keep trying to do just that. Hugs to you!
I have been a nurse for over 45 yrs. I have never joined the ANA. I have joined the California Nurses Assoc & Mich Nurses Assoc. Both seem advocate for issues such as safe staffing ratios etc. I was semi retired. I came back to nursing 2 yrs ago to help with COVID vaccinations. I was a travel nurse & also worked as a temp. Working over 50 hrs per week with little guarantee of overtime pay or set schedule was extremely difficult.
Thank you for sharing your story, Nancy. I am glad to hear that some state nursing associations do work for nurses. Here in PA I don't see them advocating on behalf of nurses, or if they do, it's in a form that doesn't get a lot of attention. I hear you that working 50 hours per week without knowing if you would get overtime, or work a set schedule was very difficult. It really would not be that hard to treat nurses with more institutional respect, and the lesson from Covid seems to be that if hospitals don't start doing that, they will be short nurses for a long time to come. All my best to you!
The ANA is obviously another bloated bureaucracy that is far-removed from its members with a facade mission. I never saw an advocacy or positive impact from the ANA in 22 years a practicing ICU RN & 15 years a CRNP. One would ponder that if the organization is not absolutely true to nurses, what are they really about.
I like your question--what is the ANA really about? What gets to me the most is that they talk a good game, at least on their website, and they seem to care about nurses, but then they do...nothing. Or if they are doing anything really helpful for nurses during the ongoing emergency that is Covid, no one hears about it and it makes no difference. I'm sure you are right about the bloated bureaucracy. Shouldn't someone involved want better for the organization, though? I wish that were the case. Take care!
Thank you for your time to reply. My belief is watch what they do(or don’t do) & not what they say. The commercial interest with WaterPik to capitalize on the human suffering of nurses and patients was very telling to me. Warmest regards & thanks for all you do.
You called it: partnering with Waterpik to make money off nurses' suffering is, well, not the ANA's mission, and kind of gross (can't think of a more "adult" word). You are wise to say watch what they do--not what they say.
Thank you for this column. When I graduated from my BSN program back in 1975 it was assumed that one would join the ANA. I did, of course but soon found that it was theory and a whole lot of politics. I did not renew because then and now it does not represent those of us who have provided care at the patient/ client level. Their purpose is self promotion for a few who may or may not have ever been at the bedside or clinic or school. Who is running the show there anyway- are they even in the nursing profession currently or just lobbyists? Just so out of touch.
Boy- I could say more.
They should have endorse Biden to send a message
I really appreciate this comment, Mary! In 1975 you wised up to the reality of the ANA much quicker than I did. It took Covid for me to see that they sometimes talk the talk, but the walk is not getting walked. That is so sad. Because, as you say, if the point is self-promotion, who is running the show? Are they even in the nursing profession in any kind of real way? For me, the importance and value of nursing is our boots on the ground doing of the job. It took a pandemic for me to see that the rank-and-file are really not supported by the ANA. Wishing you all the best!
I don't think that my criticisms can be described as "unfair." Surely as a member of the ANA I have the right to declare that I don't see the organization living up to its ideals.
On a different note, if you aren't familiar with the research on nurse staffing and patient mortality, give it a look. The results have been duplicated in multiple settings. It's a key issue for patients and central to providing safe, quality care.
Thank you for your timely response to my opinion about your recent blog, in which you were unfairly critical toward the ANA. I am proud to be an active member of the ANA and I support their long and reputable advocacy for mission. I respectfully disagree with the positions you expressed in your blog and the response to my opinion.
In fact, I am an active ANA member who disagrees with the opinions voiced in this blog for two reasons. First, as for political candidate endorsements, some ANA constituents, like ANA-Maine, for example, are non-profit 501(c) 3 corporations and thereby are prevented by law from being political partisans. Furthermore, endorsing one candidate leaves open the potential for criticism from others that may also want endorsements; and it is just not the mission of the ANA to be engaged in overt partisan politics. ANA's PAC does make endorsements, but that is their purpose. Meanwhile, the ANA has supported the PPE initiatives in all of its many forms and criticized obstructed progress related to future emergencies. As for safe staffing, everyone supports this, but there is a California Nurses Association position on this, yet no substantial data to support the law. Nevertheless, there is plenty of anxiety among rural health care providers about how mandating staffing will harm access to care. Professional nurses must consider the advances supported by the ANA to protect the safety, and integrity of nursing and the intentions to be forthcoming with the data about best staffing practices.
My understanding is that the ANA endorsed Hilary Clinton and I know they worked strongly (and correctly, I would argue) to help pass the Affordable Care Act. My argument was not partisan--it was about then-President Trump not taking every action possible to protect nurses from Covid. I'm not making a political argument.
There is an abundance of data to support staffing ratios--I'm not sure why you say the data isn't there. See the work of Jack Needleman at UCLA and Linda Aiken at U Penn, among others.
Finally, the solution to understaffing at rural hospitals is to use state and/or national incentives to bring in more nurses, not to insist that all hospitals be allowed to be understaffed--that solution makes no sense at all for patients or overall quality of care.
In your last sentence you say that professional nurses must support ANA "to protect safety," but the whole point of my column is that by focusing on self-care, rather than real issues like staffing and compensation (and difficult work environments overall) the ANA does not keep nurses safe. The ANA's choices prioritize the status quo over nurses' well being. I want them to do what they say they are going to do. That should not be a tall order, and yet it seems to be.