Membership In Professional Organizations Research Articles

Leaders Benefit From Organizational Membership: Perspectives From the United States and Canada.

This article explores the value of nurse leader membership in professional organizations in the United States and Canada. Benefits include the sharing of scholarly information, enlarging networks, and professional development.

Member-Reported Benefits of Three Alabama Educator-Focused Professional Organizations

Professional organizations can play an important role in the lives and work of educators. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore Alabama educators’ experiences with membership in statewide professional organizations and to determine what benefits, if any, members feel their organizations provide them. Four main benefits that respondents identified were community, broadening of knowledge and practice, leadership opportunities, and personal growth.

Black, indigenous, and people of color's experiences of discrimination in psychoanalytic professional organizations in the USA: Results of a thematic analysis of interview data

AbstractThis article reviews the results of a qualitative study of Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC)'s experiences of discrimination in psychoanalytic professional organizations (PPOs) in the USA. The authors used thematic analysis to analyze the transcripts of semi‐structured interviews with n = 10 self‐identified BIPOC with prior experience in PPOs, including psychoanalytically‐oriented graduate programs, psychoanalytic institutes and other training programs, and professional membership organizations across the United States. A key finding is that a significant majority of interviewees (n = 9) reported experiencing discrimination in these organizations, per their own definitions of the term “discrimination,” and described these experiences in considerable detail. The authors attempt to triangulate the findings of the present study in relation to the findings of the Holmes Commission and other existing literature on BIPOC experiences in psychoanalysis.

The History of the National Academy of Recreational Therapists: 2011–2021

The profession of recreational therapy first established professional membership organizations in the 1940s and 1950s. The most recent national professional membership organization was developed in 1984, when the American Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA) was formed. The National Academy of Recreational Therapists (NART) was established in 2011 as an honor society to recognize the most accomplished practitioners and educators in recreational therapy and to provide a clearinghouse for the exchange of ideas that would ultimately lead to the advancement of the recreational therapy profession. Efforts to establish NART began in 2009 when David Austin and Ray West drafted a conceptualization of the academy and its operations, as well as proposed a set of by-laws. A steering committee was subsequently established to review and approve by-laws for NART and to establish the Founding Fellows of NART. The central purpose of the Academy was the advancement of recreational therapy by recognition, education, research, scholarly activity, advocacy, and the provision of advice to decision makers. Since its inception NART has established and funded a Future Scholars Fund to support outstanding graduate students considering pursuing a terminal degree, as well as the Marcia Carter Scholarly Manuscript Award for the best annual publication in the Therapeutic Recreation Journal. Over its first 10 years, NART made revisions to its bylaws to refine criteria and categories for Fellows, and by 2021 there were 77 elected Fellows. The invited paper summarizes the first 10 years and considers a number of original goals that remain to be realized to support and advance this honor society.

Why get involved? A cross-sectional survey of factors that influence student pharmacist membership in professional organizations

IntroductionUnderstanding factors that motivate and deter student pharmacists from joining professional pharmacy organizations may assist schools and organizations in determining ways to recruit, engage, and support the next generation of pharmacy professionals. The objective is to identify motivating and hindering factors related to student pharmacist membership in professional pharmacy organizations. MethodsA cross-sectional survey was sent to the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Student Services Personnel community members for distribution to student pharmacists at their respective schools. The survey collected demographic data, determined the extent of student membership and leadership involvement within professional organizations, and assessed factors that motivate and deter student pharmacist membership in organizations. Results467 students completed the survey. Seventy percent indicated they are currently involved in one or more pharmacy organizations. Final-year students were less likely to join organizations than other professional years (p < 0.001). Women (p = 0.001) were more likely to join and hold leadership positions, as were younger-aged students (p = 0.001) and those living on or near campus (p = 0.049). Opportunities for professional development was the highest-ranked factor motivating students to join a professional organization, and the time required for participation was the highest-ranked hindering factor. ConclusionNumerous factors affect student pharmacists' decisions to join professional pharmacy organizations. This information may assist in determining ways to recruit and engage students starting early in their pharmacy education. It may be prudent to redefine student engagement within professional organizations, especially in the context of new generations of students.

National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists Affiliate Support for Professional Growth of Clinical Nurse Specialist Students.

The purpose of this article was to describe how a National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists affiliate partnered with a local university to engage clinical nurse specialist (CNS) students, enhance its mission and activities, and create succession planning opportunities, while providing mentorship and professional growth opportunities. Academic preparation of CNS students endeavors to instill professionalism. A 3-pronged partnership incorporating the inclusion of a student liaison on the board, presentation of student clinical work at the affiliate's annual conference, and development of a student scholarship was implemented. Membership in professional nursing organizations for a CNS student provides exposure and access to professional development resources, socialization to the role, rewarding networking opportunities with peers and colleagues, and leadership development. Anecdotal feedback demonstrated a better understanding of the CNS role, increased confidence, and enhanced knowledge on topics such as legislative advocacy as well as experiences of sharing clinical challenges with CNS colleagues. Partnership with the local university allowed the affiliate to maintain the influx of new CNSs, which sustains membership, nurtures the growth of new CNSs, and ensures the influx of new ideas. Furthermore, membership in professional nursing organizations is imperative to address the opportunities that exist in healthcare.

Practices, Challenges, and Perceived Impact of Professional Development Activities among Senior High School Teachers

Professional development is a critical aspect of education for teachers in the Philippines, who encounter various challenges in addressing the evolving needs of their students and the education system. Using the descriptive cross-sectional technique, the study aimed to identify the practices, challenges, and perceived impact of professional development activities among senior high school teachers. While there are similar studies on the subject, there are few to none which present the specific situation of senior high school teachers in the Philippines. The results showed that the respondents utilized professional development practices in terms of graduate/post-graduate studies to a great extent; FGDs, LACs, and other trainings to a very great extent; research and publication to a very great extent; education innovations to a very great extent; membership in professional organizations to a very great extent; and community service involvement to a very great extent. Of these practices, those in terms of community service involvement were utilized the most while those in terms of graduate/post-graduate studies were utilized the least. In addition, the respondents experienced professional development challenges in terms of teacher-related factors to a great extent; professional development availability, cost, and design to a great extent; and instructional supervision and assistance to a moderate extent. Of these challenges, those in terms of professional development availability, cost, and design were experienced the most while those in terms of instructional supervision and assistance were experienced the least. Furthermore, the respondents perceived the impact of professional development activities to a very great extent. The results also imply the need to underscore involvement in graduate/post-graduate studies in the proposed action plan and to improve the job satisfaction of teachers after engaging in professional development activities. Future researchers may conduct a similar study with the inclusion of the views and experiences of administrators and students as a means of validating the supposed impact of professional development activities as perceived by senior high school teachers.

Investigating Factors Affecting the Low Uptake of Insurance Institute of South Africa (IISA) Membership Among Insurance Professionals in Botswana.

Purpose: This study investigates the factors contributing to the low uptake of Insurance Institute of South Africa (IISA) membership among insurance professionals in Botswana. The goal is to comprehend this phenomenon and provide insights into improving membership rates.&#x0D; Design / Methodology / Approach: A questionnaire-based survey targeting insurance professionals, students, and lecturers was employed. This approach aimed to gather comprehensive perspectives on membership uptake and related factors. The survey identified primary influences on low membership uptake, including lack of awareness, high fees, perceived limited value, and inadequate networking opportunities. The study explored the importance of membership, benefits, barriers, and suggestions for boosting participation.&#x0D; Findings: The study reveals crucial factors contributing to low IISA membership rates. Challenges include insufficient awareness of benefits, high fees deterring potential members, perceived value gaps, and limited networking prospects. These insights provide a holistic understanding of obstacles faced by insurance professionals in joining IISA. The research underscores the significance of professional organization membership for networking, skill enhancement, and career growth. However, financial, and perceptual barriers hinder potential members from joining.

Patient-centered collaborative research: Exploring perspectives on clinical meaningfulness in metastatic breast cancer with clinicians, patients, and caregivers.

338 Background: In metastatic breast cancer (mBC), treatment decision-making is informed by many factors including patient values, preferences, and care goals. Important to treatment decision-making is clinical meaningfulness, or the degree to which a treatment for mBC results in a meaningful change in the patient’s daily life, and clinically meaningful outcomes that are relevant to patients (e.g., survival, quality of life). However, patient and clinician perspectives and alignment on these concepts have not been well elucidated. Engaging patients and other key stakeholders as research collaborators is vital to guiding the delivery of high-quality cancer care focused on outcomes that patients considered meaningful. The aim of this work is to describe the implementation of an innovative multi-collaborator engagement with patient advocates and professional oncology societies to support a study examining perspectives on clinical meaningfulness in mBC treatment among clinicians, patients, and caregivers in the United States. Methods: This mixed-methods study utilizes qualitative semi-structured in-person and virtual focus groups to inform the development of collaborator-specific surveys on clinical meaningfulness in mBC. A multi-collaborator engagement approach was selected to support the conception, implementation, and completion of this study. Specifically, we have convened a collaboration with patient advocacy groups and professional membership organizations to engage researchers, patients, caregivers, and clinicians. The collaboration is designed to: i) facilitate the development of study protocols and key data collection documents; ii) review and reflect on findings and salience for relevant populations; and iii) participate in dissemination activities whereby collaborators co-create, co-present and discuss findings and their impact on clinical practice. Results: To date, we have partnered with four breast cancer patient advocacy groups representing sociodemographic diverse constituencies throughout the US and three oncology professional membership organizations. By describing how to implement these partnerships, we seek to present a collaboration roadmap that can be replicated and adapted to similar studies in oncology care delivery. Such a comprehensive and rigorous approach aims to enhance the quality of data collection and interpretation, generating evidence that will optimally improve patient-centered mBC care delivery and meaningful patient outcomes. Conclusions: Engaging patients and other key collaborators in research is important to generate clinically meaningful evidence to those involved in mBC treatment decision-making. This study offers a robust methodological approach for gaining insights into the delivery of patient-centered cancer care.

Threats to public health workers

Media reports and data from public health professional membership organizations have demonstrated high levels of harassment experienced by public health workers throughout the COVID-19 response. We documented personal and political threats to public health workers across the first 12 months of pandemic response through a longitudinal survey completed in Fall 2020 and Summer 2021. The web-based survey was distributed to respondents using the Qualtrics survey platform. Survey items measured domains including demographic information, public health roles and training, mental and physical health, and work-life balance. Respondents were also asked if they had received any personal or political threats, from whom these threats were received, and completed an open-ended question describing the nature of the threats. Among the 85 public health workers completing both surveys, threats from members of the public and from elected and appointed leaders were most prevalent at both timepoints; however, as the pandemic response progressed, the nature of threats to public health workers changed. While those remaining in the public health workforce may be more resilient to these threats, increased prevalence of personal and political threats has the potential to deter new graduates from entering the field, impacting the public health system's future response capacity.

Burnout and secondary traumatic stress in medical-surgical nursing

Day to day care of patients throughout the continuum of life puts nurses at risk for burnout and secondary traumatic stress (STS). This mixed-methods study explores Medical-Surgical (MS) nursing burnout, STS, and support from professional nursing organization leadership and membership perspectives. Seventy-two nurses were recruited from a nursing organization website and surveyed to provide demographic and Professional Quality of Life Scale Version 5 (ProQOLv5) data. After quantitative data collection, nurse respondents were asked if they would like to participate in a Zoom interview. Qualitative data was derived from in-depth interviews of six medical-surgical nurses and free-text responses from three other participants. The nurses interviewed provided detailed personal definitions of burnout, which led to the identification of themes of “awareness” and “triggers: fueling the fire of burnout,” and also exposed the fluctuating nature of burnout. Participants defined STS as “invasiveness into one’s life” and reflected on the impact that it can have both personally and professionally. Despite the fluctuating nature of burnout and the invasiveness of STS, the nurses interviewed revealed a passion for nursing that served as a driving force for the day-to-day struggle, affirming, “I am a med-surg nurse.” Overcoming burnout and STS lead nurses to “lessons learned: I did not know what I did not know,” which focused on personal and professional growth and development. An overarching theme of “dream vs. reality” captures these stabilizing and destabilizing forces at play in bedside MS nursing.

Identifying a Clinical Informatics or Electronic Health Record Expert Witness for Medical Professional Liability Cases.

The health care field is experiencing widespread electronic health record (EHR) adoption. New medical professional liability (i.e., malpractice) cases will likely involve the review of data extracted from EHRs as well as EHR workflows, audit logs, and even the potential role of the EHR in causing harm. Reviewing printed versions of a patient's EHRs can be difficult due to differences in printed versus on-screen presentations, redundancies, and the way printouts are often grouped by document or information type rather than chronologically. Simply recreating an accurate timeline often requires experts with training and experience in designing, developing, using, and reviewing EHRs and audit logs. Additional expertise is required if questions arise about data's meaning, completeness, accuracy, and timeliness or ways that the EHR's user interface or automated clinical decision support tools may have contributed to alleged events. Such experts often come from the sociotechnical field of clinical informatics that studies the design, development, implementation, use, and evaluation of information and communications technology, specifically, EHRs. Identifying well-qualified EHR experts to aid a legal team is challenging. Based on literature review and experience reviewing cases, we identified seven criteria to help in this assessment. The criteria are education in clinical informatics; clinical informatics knowledge; experience with EHR design, development, implementation, and use; communication skills; academic publications on clinical informatics; clinical informatics certification; and membership in informatics-related professional organizations. While none of these criteria are essential, understanding the breadth and depth of an individual's qualifications in each of these areas can help identify a high-quality, clinical informatics expert witness.

Investigating the Mediating Role of Social Capital in the Influence of Job Satisfaction on Subjective Well-Being among Librarians in Java Island, Indonesia

Subjective well-being (SWB) has become one of the indicators that can describe the level of prosperity or well-being of the population in real terms. In the professional context, high levels of SWB are associated with higher life satisfaction, better productivity, and better performance, especially in the helping profession. This study aims to analyze the level of SWB, job satisfaction, and social capital of librarians in Java Island, Indonesia, and analyze the mediating role of social capital in the influence of job satisfaction on the level of SWB of librarians. A quantitative approach was used with a sample of 345 librarians spread across six provinces in Java Island, Indonesia. Mediation analysis using the bootstrapping method in PROCESS v4.2 for SPSS application was used to identify direct, indirect, and total effects. The results showed that the levels of SWB, job satisfaction, and social capital of librarians in Java Island were mostly in the “Moderate” category. It was also found that there is a partial mediating role of social capital in the influence of job satisfaction on the level of SWB of librarians with direct effect coefficient β=0.5936, indirect effect β=0.1975, and total effect β=0.7912 which are all significant. The partial mediation role shows that social capital only partially mediates the effect of job satisfaction on the level of SWB of librarians. Interventions can be made by optimizing aspects of social capital that still have minimal contribution such as network ownership or librarian membership in professional organizations. In addition, librarian professional organizations must proactively advocate for their members regarding the challenges they face, including increasing the benefits obtained when a librarian joins them.

Pediatric Specialty Nursing Associations and their Role in Leadership Development.

Professional organizations have a long and rich history of promoting leadership development since the late 1800s. Professional nursing organizations and associations advocate for the profession of nursing and nurses, develop health care policies and standards that ensure the highest level of patient care quality, assure the highest level of education, provide professional development and continuing education, and offer research, networking, and career advancement opportunities for their members. Currently there are 10 nationally based pediatric nursing specialty organizations and associations, most of which also have regional or local chapters. To use a scoping review to identify and summarize contributions of pediatric nursing organizations and associations in the United States to leadership development in pediatric nursing practice. Although there are leadership programs sponsored by professional nursing organizations and mentions of leadership in their mission and "about us" statements, there is very little empirical evidence of the contributions that pediatric nursing specialty bodies make to the development of leaders. Membership in a professional nursing organization provides nurses with professional development; continuing education including journal subscription and conference attendance; networking; opportunities for specialty certification, career advancement, and leadership development; and research-based clinical standards and guidelines that promote best practice. The relationship between membership in pediatric professional organizations and leadership is clear in mission statements and strategic plans. Nurse leaders play a key role in advancing the organization's mission and goals. Nursing faculty, practice executives, and professional organizations and associations have an obligation to demonstrate value of membership in advancing the profession and developing future leaders. Future research is needed to describe the contributions of pediatric nursing professional organizations to leadership development of nurses.

Factors Affecting CTRSs' Motivation to Join Professional Organizations in Recreational Therapy

A strong professional organization has been associated with credibility and vitality of a profession. The field of recreational therapy (RT), however, has historically demonstrated poor membership on both national and state/regional levels. The purpose of this study was to examine what CTRSs identify as benefits as well as real/perceived barriers to membership in professional RT organizations and examine the relationship between membership status and professional commitment. A 43-item Qualtrics electronic questionnaire addressing benefits and barriers of membership, professional commitment, and demographics was sent to active CTRSs. Statistical analysis found that just over half of the 2003 respondents were members of either national and/or state/regional organizations. Differences existed regarding benefits of membership where members perceived more professional benefits and non-members perceived more personal benefits. Barriers were primarily financial and “cost-benefit” concerns. In addition, professional commitment was higher among members. Many recommendations exist for practice, education, and research.

Listening Within

Events in 2020 created a moment of reckoning and a movement centered on and illuminating deeply ingrained patterns, processes, and prejudices of inequity and injustice faced by generations of Black Americans. Almost no institution was immune to probing questions concerning diversity, inclusion, and equity. Many professional membership organizations were also being asked to address the injustices manifested in their practices and traditions. Within ACM, however, the insider perspectives on this issue were not always clear. And so, from April until August 2021 I carried out research to determine whether ACM members, volunteers, staff and external experts believed that ACM should and could become a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable organization. This research is captured in a report entitled: All the Voices: Doing the Work to Improve Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion throughout ACM.

Career-long clinical supervision among counselors in Turkey: Current experiences, needs, and preferred practices

Career-long clinical supervision is still not common and is a relatively new study area in the counseling profession. Thus, this study aims to describe the current supervision experiences, needs, and preferred practices among counselors in Turkey, as well as the factors affecting their supervision experiences. For this purpose, cross-sectional survey design study was used and a total of 402 counselors participated in the study by using convenience sampling. The Supervision Experiences and Needs Online Survey Form developed by researchers was also used for data collection. The descriptive statistics and chi-square analyses conducted to analyze data. The results indicated that current supervision experiences are varied though very limited. Twenty-three percent (n=92) of the participants reported to receive supervision. They received mostly psychotherapy/counseling training supervision, and then work setting supervision and volunteer supervision respectively. The most common reasons for receiving supervision were developing interviewing/counseling skills (n=83); developing intervention skills for client’s needs and problems (n=83); and learning a therapy/counseling approach (n=81). Besides, age, educational degree, work setting, work experience, and the professional organization membership was found to be the factors of receiving supervision. The supervision needs, methods, techniques, and supervisor characteristics were varied with respect to current and preferred practices. Most participants (n=381) want to receive regular, monthly, and face-to-face supervision from supervisors as professionally trained and experienced counselors with supervisor training. Overall, this study highlights the necessity of developing accessible, affordable supervision opportunities as well as the development of a pool of trained supervisors.

Regulatory and Educational Initiatives to Prevent Food Choking Injuries in Children: An Overview of the Current Approaches.

Choking injuries are one of the major causes of death among children ages 0–3, and most of these injuries are related to food. This work provides an overview of the current recommendations for food choking prevention and educational targets as a basis for developing a unified common set of knowledge for primary prevention policies development. Guidelines published by professional membership organizations and national governments in the English language were considered. All of these guidelines provide lists of hazardous food items and recommendations for food preparation to minimize choking hazard. Together with recommendations for food preparation, also recommendations aimed at stakeholders (food manufacturers, health care providers, and public authorities) are provided, underlining that this severe public health problem should be further addressed by adopting integrated public health interventions. Our overview stressed the importance of developing educational and primary prevention policies to sensitize adult supervisors and to regulate dangerous food products in the market.

Factors Associated with Nurses’ Attitudes Towards Evidence- Based Practice in Turkey

Objective: Nurses’ attitudes related to Evidence-Based Practices (EBP) have been widely studied in Western countries, on the other hand, few studies have examined nurse attitudes and practices related to evidence-based practice in Eastern European and Middle Eastern countries.&#x0D; Therefore, we investigated Turkish nurses’ attitudes towards evidence-based practice and the socio-demographic factors associated with it in Turkey.&#x0D; Methods: This is a descriptive study using a sample of 290 nurses employed by three hospitals in Turkey. Participants completed the Evidence- Based Nursing Attitude Questionnaire and a demographic survey to measure 13 personal, occupational, and professional variables. The analysis included descriptive statistics, t-tests, and ANOVA.&#x0D; Results: The results of the study showed that nursing education, ability to use professional nursing standards, and conference attendance were significantly associated with higher evidence-based practice. Nurses who had a membership in a professional organization reported higher scores in the cognitive subscale. Younger nurses who have least length of nursing experience stated higher scores in the affective subscale. Moreover, nurses who use professional nursing standards in practice told higher scores in the behavioral subscale.&#x0D; Conclusion: There are several factors associated with greater evidence-based practice among nurses, those are identified as higher nursing education, professional organization membership, conference attendance, and more satisfaction with income. Results suggest providing inservice education for older and experienced nurses in the benefits and processes of evidence-based practice, supporting activities that promote professionalism.

Caseloads in forensic anthropology

AbstractObjectivesThere are currently no baseline data regarding the amount and types of case reports produced by forensic anthropologists. This research fills that gap by providing data on caseloads of practicing forensic anthropologists and identifying variables that may contribute to amount and type of casework.Materials and methodsA survey was distributed to practicing forensic anthropologists (n = 364) to explore number of case reports written and possible influential factors. Questions included demographic information, employment type, institution where master's degree or PhD were obtained, type of reports written, professional organization membership, certification, graduate research focus, among others. Data were analyzed using summary statistics, a random forest model, network analysis, and structural equation modeling.ResultsThe mean number of sole‐authored skeletal analysis reports per year was 12.33 and field recovery reports was 2 per year. Statistical analyses identified several variables influencing case loads which included: number of fieldwork reports per year, current employment, total number of cases analyzed, age, publication record, and institution of doctoral degree. Network analyses revealed that individuals in academic settings tended to have a bioarchaeological research focus from their graduate work, whereas those in an applied setting had a focus on forensic anthropology. Further, degree institution influenced employment type.Discussion/conclusionsThese data address expectations for the number of cases analyzed by a forensic anthropologist per year and set a baseline for expectations and performance. Based on these results, we suggest that forensic anthropology is underutilized in the medicolegal death investigation system and more forensic anthropologists should be employed within Medical Examiner/Coroner's Offices.