Periodically we should all take a broad look at our profession in order to better understand what's happening in nursing as a whole. It's so easy to get all caught up in the nursing world in our own institutions, thereby forgetting that there's a whole world of nursing going on out there in the universe, filled with nurses who are making an incredible difference for patients, doing things we've never even heard about. Today I want to tell you about some of the most innovative initiatives in nursing I know about. The American Academy of Nursing has started these programs. In case you're not sure what that is, the academy is one part of the American Nurses Association. Members of the academy are admitted solely by virtue of their "visionary leadership," and so it follows that the academy's initiatives (such as the Magnet Program) are worth following. According to the academy Web site: "The Academy serves the public and the nursing profession by advancing health policy and practice through the generation,synthesis, and dissemination of nursing knowledge. Every day across America, the Academy and its members create and execute knowledge-driven and policy-related initiatives to drive reform of America's health care system" (www.aannet.org). Two of their recent initiatives are Raise the Voice and Edge Runners.
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