Membership has Its Privileges

Abstract

Membership has its privileges. Professionals, including nurses, routinely talk about their work with non-profit organizations. What motivates a nurse to join a professional organization? What would drive you to join? What “privileges” are you looking for? What can you bring to an organization? Membership does have its privileges, but these exist only when leadership and membership collaborate and work to actualize common goals. Each person's level of involvement in the organization is a personal decision, but just like music, athletics or any extracurricular activity, effort determines reward. In general, full benefit from belonging to an organization takes time, participation and alliance with a mentor or motivator who has experienced the advantages of membership and advocates forth personal and professional value of belonging. For the pediatric nursing professional, joining an organization, such as the Society of Pediatric Nurses (SPN), can provide the nurse with a vast array of opportunities, some of which can be very individualized. Nurses may join an organization primarily for the benefit of keeping informed on current practice through publication of databased articles and reviews of current trends in healthcare. Nurses have commented that being informed of best practices through current research publications and presentations heightens the awareness of issues related to the state of pediatric nursing, thus creating the “bigger picture of nursing and health care overall.” Having the big picture in pediatric nursing can lead to new and exciting opportunities to advocate for the patient population that is served.