Is it worth it to join a nurse association/organization?

[Jane J]

Hey nurse peeps, went to the Arizona Nurse's Association Conference last weekend and was actually shocked by how much the association has done for nurses.  I've never really been engaged in an official nurse association before and honestly thought it wasn't worth the money to join, but I was quite wrong, haha.  Some of the things they talked about having done in the past year included: legislation they pushed to decrease smoke exposure in the OR (and prevent lung cancer for nurses!), creating a school nurse residency program, and setting up a mental health support system for nurses in Arizona.  Those are just a few of the things they've done-- consider me shooketh.  

 

I've been seeing a lot of small, local nurse advocacy groups being organized by nurses on social media to try to fight for better pay, staffing ratios, etc. But after attending the conference I wondered if it would be more effective to engage more nurses in the associations that already exist?  They've already done a lot of the leg-work in building relationships with legislators, nursing schools, etc.  I think most people, like me, just have had no clue how much change these associations are actually driving.  But idk...what do you think? 

Edited October 5, 2022 by Jane J