I feel that all registered nurses, including advanced practice registered nurses, should be members of the Nebraska Nurses Association (NNA). NNA is the only organization that looks after the scope and professional practice of all 28,000 RNs in the state of Nebraska. I feel that if nurses are not active advocates for themselves, then others will gladly make decisions on our behalf—which is why I love the phrase, ‘If you aren’t at the table, then you are on the menu.’
Nurses are the most trusted profession and have been for the last 15 years. I want to make sure we stay #1 for another 15 years. It is our professional obligation to be members of our professional organizations, and I am proud to be a professional nurse because a majority of my practice is outside the requirements of nursing “merely as a job.’ Nursing is a true calling, and every nurse should feel compelled to demand it to be understood as their profession. As for my advanced practice colleagues, I want to remind each of you that maintaining the APRN license first requires continual excellence as an RN.
