Role of professional associations and unions

1. ROLE OF PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AND UNIONS
Prepared by : Mrs. Namita Batra Guin
Associate Professor, Deptt. of Community Health Nursing
INTRODUCTION:
Nursing is an art and science and is hence based on an ever changing and expanding
bodyof knowledge and needs delivery of care artfully with compassion, caring and
a respect for each client’s dignity and personhood. However since the earlier times
there have been attempts ofinterferences in nursing legislation and practice by other
health care professionals. To curb the tendency and protect nursing professionals
Professional organizations came into being. With changing times the role of these
professional organizations/professional associates have expanded and extended
ranging from legislation, welfare and curriculum development and every aspect
related to nursing.
QUALITYOF PROFESSION:
A profession possessesthe following characteristics:
 A profession requires an extended education of its members, as well as a basic
liberal foundation.
 A profession has a theoretical body of knowledge leading to defined skills,
abilities and norms.
 A profession provides a specific service.
 Members of a profession have autonomy in decision making and practice.

2.  The professionas a whole has a codeof ethics for practice.
DEFINITION OF PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION
A professional association (also called a professional body, 'professional
organization, professional association or professional society) is a non-profit
organization seeking to further a particular profession, the interests of individuals
engaged in that profession, and the public interest.
ROLE OF PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION
 A group of people in a learned occupation who are entrusted with maintaining
control or oversight of the legitimate practice of the occupation.
 To safeguard the public interest, protect the public by maintaining and
enforcing standards of training and ethics in their profession.
 Represent the interest of the professional practitioners.
 Act to maintain their own privileged and powerful position as a controlling
body.
 Also act like a cartel or a labour union (trade union) for the members of the
profession.
 Therefore, in certain dispute situations the balance between these two aims
may get tipped more in favour of protecting and defending the professionals
than in protecting the public.
 Development and monitoring of professional educational programs, and the
updating of skills and

3.  Thus perform professional certification to indicate that a person possesses
qualifications in the subject area.
 Membership of a professional body, as a legal requirement, can in some
professions form the primary formal basis for gaining entry to and setting up
practice within the profession; licensure.
 Many professional bodies also act as learned societies for the academic
disciplines underlying their professions.
PROFESSIONAL UNIONS
 The act of uniting or the state of being united.
 A combination so formed, especially an alliance or confederation of people,
parties for mutual interest or benefit.
 Every member of which is an element of one or another of two or more given
sets.
 Agreement or harmony resulting from the uniting of individuals; concord.
NEED FOR PROFESSIONAL UNIONS
 To increase the power of individual
 To increase their input in to organizational decision making
 To eliminate discrimination and favoritism
 Social need to be accepted
 To improve patient outcomes and quality of care
ORGANIZING STRATEGIESOF UNIONS

4.  Organizing and conducting meetings (both group and one to one)
 Pressure on the hospital corporationthrough media and community contacts
 Corporatecampaign strategies
 Using lawsuits
 Bringing pressure from financiers
 Activism of local employees
 Political pressure of regional legislators and law makers
 Technology
REASONS WHY NURSES DO NOT WANT TO JOIN UNIONS
 Fear of lost income associated with strike or walkout
 Fear of employer reprisal
 Identification with management viewpoint
 A belief that professionals should not unionize
 A belief that unions promote the welfare state and oppose their own
regulations
 A need to demonstrate individualism and promote social status.
TRAINED NURSES ASSOCIATIONOF INDIA
Establishment and formation of TNAI:
The Association had its beginning in the Association of Nursing Superintendents
which was founded in 1905, at Lucknow. The organization was composed of nine
European Nurses holding administrative posts in hospitals.
They saw the need to develop Nursing as a profession and also to provide a forum
where professional Nurses could meet and plan to achieve these ends. The
movement gathered momentum and soon Nurses, other than Nursing
Superintendents, were seeking to share in:

5. Upholding in every way the dignity and honor of the Nursing profession;promoting
a sense of esprit de corps among all Nurses; and enabling members to take counsel
together on matters relating to their profession.
In a conference held in Bombay in 1908, decision was taken to establish Trained
Nurses’ Association. The Association was inaugurated in 1909. The two
organizations shared the same officers until 1910 when, at the first Trained Nurses’
Association (TNA) Conference, held at Banaras (UP), the TNA members elected
their own officers.
In 1922, the Association of Nursing Superintendents and Trained Nurses’
Association were amalgamated and called The Trained Nurses’ Association of India
(TNAI).
The Association has established within its jurisdiction the following organizations:
 Health Visitors’ League (1922)
 Midwives and Auxiliary Nurse-Midwives Association (1925)
 Student Nurses Association (1929-30): The Student Nurses Association
(SNA) is a nation-wide organization. It was established in 1929 at the time of
the Annual Conference of the Trained Nurses’ Association of India (TNAI).
The pioneer unit of SNA was established at the General Hospital, Madras,
followed by Christian Rainy Hospital, Madras and the Presidency General
Hospital, Calcutta. The present number of SNA units, till August 2001 is 506
and the membership is 43,453.
The major functions of S.N.A /T.N.A.I. are:

6. ProjectUndertaking: The students undertake community projects, such as School
Health Project, Health Survey, Nutrition Survey etc. and Home Nursing and specific
projects like medical camp, Immunization, etc. at the time of celebration of
International Nurses’ Day. At someinstitutions regular projects are given to students
as part of their field experience.
Propagation of Nursing Profession: To acquaint the general public with the
Nursing profession, general public is invited to the celebrations and festivities of
professionaland non-professional nature, suchas Nurses’ Week, World Health Day,
Capping and Graduation ceremonies and other festivities like witnessing a variety
entertainment programme, games, sports and tournaments, which are organized by
Nurses. There are also Institutional visits, Radio talks and T. V programmes.
Fund Raising:It is doneby getting voluntary donations, sale of donation tickets and
by arranging some features. The SNA Units raise fund by organized variety
entertainment, fetes, sales, and through other modes of fund raising.
Socio-Cultural and Recreational Activities: The Association believes that the
professional development remains incomplete without this component. Young
students’ energy can bechanneled constructively into fine arts like dance; dramatics,
music and painting, and competitions are arranged at the time ofConferences. Sports
and games are becoming extremely popular and competitions are held at state level
at present

7. MEMBERSHIP:
 Currently only half the actual numbers of nurses in India are members of
T.N.A.I.
 Despite efforts being made by nursing associations, such efforts have not
been successfulin increasing nurse’s participation in their associations and a
decline in association has been noted.
 Nursing associations provide many different services to their members
namely journals, continuing education, certification, social benefits and
networking.
 Members of professional organizations value professional programmes,
improvement of profession, social benefits and membership benefits.
 In a study it was found that most frequent reasons for joining an association
were to increase knowledge, professional benefits, networking and earning
continuing education units.
 In studies conducted the major reasons for not joining an association were
family responsibilities, lack of time, difference in philosophies and lack of
benefits.
ROLE OF TNAI IN NURSING EDUCATION
Nursing Education programme have a major role in the preparation of Nurses for
leadership and decision-making functions. Nurses, and the Nursing discipline as a
whole, need to respond to the changing environment of health care delivery. They
have to establish and maintain control of well-defined and cost-effective Nursing

8. services.
1. BasicNursing Education
 (i) Basic Nursing Education should include both theory and practice, and
conform to the regulations and syllabi prescribed by the Indian Nursing
Council.
 (ii) Career guidance and information should be provided to persons wishing
to take up Nursing as a career. This type of information should be made
available to all eligible young persons, especially women, at the district level.
 (iii) The TNAI supports two levels of Basic Nursing Education and Training:
 a) B.Sc. Nursing degree for preparation of professional Nurses to provide
General Nursing and Midwifery services in the community, hospitals, and
through other health care agencies.
 b) Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) programme for Preparation of Nursing
Auxiliaries/ Health Workers for the institutions and the Community Health
care system respectively.
 (iv) General Nursing and Midwifery Diploma / Certificate Programme
(GNM) should be phased out in a planned manner in a specified time frame.
 Schools of nursing conducting GNM programmes, especially those Schools
which are attached to Medical College Hospitals, should be upgraded to
Colleges of Nursing.
 The existing infrastructure in Schools of Nursing which are can not be
upgraded to colleges of Nursing should be converted, with adequate financial
support, to become:
 a. Auxiliary Nurse Midwife or ‘Multipurpose Health Worker (Female)’
Training Centers.
 b. Health Supervisors’ Training Centers.
 c. In-service Education Departments.

9.  According to INC norms only a Nurse should be the administrative head of
the educational institution.
2. Post-BasicNursing Education
 Post-Basic Nursing Education refers to education attained after Basic Nursing
education (Basic B.Sc. Nsg./General Nursing and Midwifery Diploma
/Certificate).
 The TNAI supports the development of:
 (i) (a) Post-Basic B.Sc. Nursing Degree programme. (b) Speciality
programmes in Nursing leading to certificate, diploma, or degree in following
areas such as: Nursing Service Administration, Nursing Education and
Research, Service Administration, Nursing Education and Research, Clinical
Nursing Speciality Community Nursing Speciality, etc.
 (ii) Post-Basic programmes should be recognized as higher education
programmes by the Indian Nursing Council and should be designed to prepare
Nursing personnel for shouldering the responsibility at various higher levels/
positions.
 (iii) Doctoral studies in Nursing should be started in selected universities,
which have Departments of Nursing/allied areas.
3. ContinuingEducation
 The TNAI has a responsibility to strengthen continuing education
programmes being vital to Nurses in the maintenance of professional
competence throughout their careers.
 The bodyof knowledge that forms the basis of the values, principles, theories
and practice of Nursing changes constantly. No initial programme of study
can provide all the knowledge and skills needed to practice in all areas of
Nursing. It also supports a decentralized approach to enable all categories of
nursing personnel to update their knowledge and skills, and attitudes: hence,

10. the highest priority should be given to supporting development of In-service
Nursing Education and training at the hospital and district levels.
4. Evidencebased practice
 Professional nurses' associations are active in promoting evidence-based
practice among their nurse members, but only those focusing on changing
competences and attitude by addressing intrinsic motivation are well used.
Other types of activities deserve to be explored, including behaviour-oriented
approaches, approaches using structural, social or financial influence
measures and perhaps methods based on 'involuntary involvement.
-Holleman G, Eliens A, van Vliet M, van Achterberg T
5. Patientsafety
 The roles of the professional nursing association in promoting the safety of
the recipient of nursing care are numerous. These roles include developing
and disseminating foundation documents, lobbying for legislation and
regulations that protect and serve users of nursing services, and advocating
for patients and issues which affect a nurse's ability to deliver safe care.
Although the professional associations' usual purpose is to work for the
welfare of the public, at times this can conflict with the association's need to
advocateforits members. The professionalassociation must balance the needs
and interests ofthe association, the profession, and the public so as to promote
the safety of patients receiving care. -Rowell PA
6. T.N.A.I. is in the process ofestablishing an institute for nursing education which
will be a landmark in nursing education.
SUMMARY

11. Professionalorganizations have and continue to play a vital a vital role in upholding
the dignity and standards of nursing. These organizations work at all levels -
Internationally, Nationally and in specialty areas too. However support from each
and every nursing personnel encompasses the most important component for their
success.
REFERENCES:
1) Accessed from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_association"
2) Bessie L. Marquis, Carol J. Huston ‘Leadership Roles and Management
Functions in Nursing’ (online) available from http//www.Google booksearch.
3) Deleskey,K. (2003)Factors affecting nurses decision to join an maintain
membership in professional associations, Journal of Perianesthesia Nursing, 18
(1), 8-17
4) Holleman G, Eliens A, van Vliet M, van Achterberg T., Promotion of evidence-
based practice by professionalnursing associations:literature review, Journal Of
Advanced Nursing, 2006 March; 53(6):702-9.
5) Rowell PA The Professional Nursing Association's role in patient safety,
American Nurses Association, Department of Nursing Practice, Online Journal
of Issues in Nursing. 2003;8(3)