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The American Nurses Association Designates Nephrology Nursing as a Recognized Nursing Specialty!
by ANNA President Suzann VanBuskirk
In
my July-August 2005 Nephrology Nursing Journal President’s message, I
described a number of partnerships that ANNA had formed recently. I
mentioned that ANNA had submitted an application to the American Nurses
Association (ANA) seeking recognition of nephrology nursing as a
nursing specialty and requesting approval of the specialty’s scope of
practice statement, and acknowledgement of the nephrology nursing
standards of practice.
I am pleased to announce that nephrology nursing is now a recognized
specialty by the ANA. In a letter dated October 27, 2005, Susan
Tallai-McGuinness, MPA, PhD, RN, Chairperson of the American Nursing
Association Congress of Nursing Practice and Economics (the Congress),
wrote “Congratulations are in order. The Congress completed its review
of the application and found all criteria were met for the designation
of nephrology nursing as a recognized nursing specialty, approval or
the published nephrology nursing scope of practice statement, and
acknowledgement of the published nephrology nursing standards of
practice. Again, congratulations.”
Why Is This Nursing Specialty Recognition Important?
The
background section of the ANA’a Specialty Nursing Recognition
application states “The rapidly changing health care environment’s
demands, including certification of specialty practitioners, created
the need to develop consistent, standardized processes for recognizing
specialty areas of nursing practice, approving scope of practice
statements, and acknowledging specialty nursing standards. ANA
continues to provide these services to the profession.”
The requirements for specialty nursing recognition are based on the
following ANA foundational documents that provide a framework for
nurses in the larger domains of practice, education, administration,
and research, as well as in more discrete areas of specialty practice:
Nursing’s Social Policy Statement, Second Edition (ANA, 2003) –
describes professional nursing’s accountability to the public and
identifies the processes for self-regulation, professional regulation,
and legal regulation as mechanisms to maintain that trust.
Code of Ethics for Nurses With Interpretive Statements (ANA, 2001) –
provides significant guidance for all nurses and nursing practice in
every setting.
Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice (ANA, 2004) – presents more
detail in further defining the scope and standards of practice for all
registered nurses, including the advanced practice registered nurse
(APRN) and the nurse working in a role specialty. ANNA adapted this
document to nephrology nurses in the Nephrology Nursing Standards of
Practice and Guidelines for Care (2005).
The Application Process
The rigorous process for the recognition is summarized below.
In June, Past President Caroline Counts and NNJ Editor/Past President
Beth Ulrich prepared a 31-page document (plus numerous attachments) in
response to 14 criteria for recognition as a nursing specialty for
review, 12 criteria for approval of a Scope Statement, 8 criteria for
Standards of Practice Review Criteria, 6 criteria for Standards of
Professional Performance Review, and 6 criteria for General Review. The
application serves as such an excellent summary of the history of
nephrology nurses and ANNA, that it is now available on the ANNA
website (www.annanurse.org Click “About ANNA,” then “The Association”).
The application concludes with these words:
“For over 35 years, ANNA and its constituents have guided and advanced
the practice of nephrology nursing and made our voices heard on issues
affecting nephrology nurses and the patients we serve. We have built
and maintained a solid foundation for nephrology nursing practice,
positively affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of people with
kidney disease and its complications through our care and our advocacy,
and served as a catalyst and facilitator for nephrology nurses to
network with each other to improve the practices of individuals and
nephrology nursing as a whole.”
On behalf of all nephrology nurses and members of ANNA over the past 37
years, I would like to thank Caroline and Beth for their leadership in
preparing the application and to Sally Burrows-Hudson and Barbara
Prowant, Editors of the Nephrology Nursing Standards of Practice and
Guidelines for Care, for their commitment and vision. The formal
recognition of nephrology nursing as a nursing specialty by ANA will
add to credibility within the public, policy, and health care
communities for years to come.
Suzann VanBuskirk, BSN, RN, CNN
ANNA President
Member, Baltimore Chapter
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