Background
The Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) was founded to enhance the quality of emergency nursing services in the United States. In the mid 20th century, leaders of registered nurses in various health care facilities found the need for a nursing association to be developed for nurses working in the emergency rooms. The main purpose of the development of the association was to enhance the skills of the emergency nurses and to help them to adapt to changing health care requirements. The ENA focuses on providing guidelines for care delivery for nurses in the emergency rooms. It also provides regular training and development programs to educate nurses and acquaint them with skills to cope with various situations. Nurses pursuing a career in the emergency room have a chance to register with the ENA. Nurses looking to become members of the ENA have an opportunity to contribute to the development of safety procedures in the ER. The association addresses various aspects of the profession, which will be discussed in this paper.
Purpose of the organization
The Emergency Nurses Association was developed for two main purposes, which include the enhancement of patients’ safety and increasing the quality of nursing services through the promotion of nursing excellence. The organization has developed guidelines that must be followed by registered nurses in nursing communities across the world. The guidelines are deeply enshrined in ethical practices, and they emphasize on providing better services that guarantee the attainment of wellness for the patients. The formation of the association was necessitated by an increase in the emergency room fatalities, and the concerned nurse leaders formed small organizations to look into ways of improving patients’ safety. The organizations shared ideas and guidelines were developed to facilitate safer nursing practices. Emergency nursing guidelines are designed to compel nurses to follow certain procedures that translate to faster recovery of the patients. The ENA was also developed to focus on the development of standards that must be followed by health care facilities. The standards entail the development of standard procedures for handling patients, and dictating specific ethical practices among the emergency nurses. The ENA also purposes to avail quality education to nurses in the emergency department. The ENA focuses on providing continuity in learning for nurses because service delivery should be continually enhanced in terms of quality (Hammond & Zimmermann, 2012).
Activities of the organization
The ENA is actively engaged in providing affordable training and development programs for registered nurses looking to join the emergency room teams. The association provides exams for aspiring nurses, and it has taken up the responsibility of offering scholarships to some of the nurses. The ENA Foundation works hand-in-hand with the ENA to produce qualified nurses for emergency response teams in healthcare facilities. One of the primary activities of the ENA is the development and financing of researches to look for directions in handling emerging issues in the healthcare system. The studies involve the development of new approaches to handling various emergencies, and educating nurses on the best methods to apply when enhancing safety in the facilities. Studies conducted by the ENA also focus on strengthening the skills held by nurses in the emergency rooms. As the application of technology expands in the emergency nursing field, the ENA looks to strengthen the skills possessed by the nurses operating machines in the ER (Hammond & Zimmermann, 2012). The ENA is also charged with the responsibility of providing representation for its members to their respective employers. Registered nurses who are members of the ENA have their needs addressed through the association, and their ideas are always considered in the development of new approaches to service delivery in the emergency room. The association has a global outlook on the trends in health care needs of patients in the ER.
Research interests of the organization
The ENA is concerned with influencing changes in emergency nursing through the nurse leaders, and researches help in providing scientific evidence on the viability of various approaches. The ENA has taken up the responsibility of advocacy of desirable changes in service delivery. The ENA has developed the Institution of Emergency Nursing Research (IENR), where nursing researches are conducted. The IENR follows the objective set by the ENA to ensure that the proposed changes in nursing approaches are evidence-based (Research, 2015). The research programs offer chances to nurse practitioners and students to develop their innovative ideas to improve the quality of nursing care in the emergency room. The association promotes the application of a multidisciplinary approach to expanding knowledge in nursing. The core principle of the ENA is to influence growth in the emergency nursing field, and technology is one of the areas that the company has emphasized in developing. It is also apparent that the association concerned with the current global health issues. For instance, the ENA is one of the global associations that are looking into developing knowledge on the best way to handle Ebola. Injury prevention studies are regularly conducted at the IENR to develop nursing approaches that minimize risks for the patients in the ER.
References
Hammond, B. B., & Zimmermann, P. G. (2012). Sheehy’s Manual of Emergency Care. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier Health Sciences.
Research. (2015). Web.