Nursing organizations play a vital role in representing nurses working in specialized clinical settings, such as the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN).
The AACN emphasizes a healthy work environment through six standards to achieve an optimal patient outcome. The standards are appropriate staffing, meaningful recognition, collaboration, authentic leadership, effective communication, and decision-making. In addition, AACN provides certification programs, webinars, journals, and clinical toolkits to attain clinical excellence.
The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) is one of many accrediting agencies that determine the quality of nursing education programs. The CCNE is an independent accrediting agency that also sets standards. They ensure the standards of a nursing program through onsite evaluation and determine the core essentials required for the program, namely the number of educators and teaching technology. CCNE-accredited nursing programs include baccalaureate, master's, doctoral, distance, and certificate-level nursing programs.
There are also non-profit national organizations for nursing students, for example, the National Student Nurse's Association (NSNA). The NSNA mentors students to lead the nursing profession into the future through affordable virtual learning, free webinars, certification programs, and boot camps that convey practice standards. They provide networking opportunities with professional and student leaders. They also offer financial support to nursing students through scholarships and discounts on various study tools.
