ANA is pleased that The Joint Commission has issued a Sentinel Event Alert on physical and verbal violence against health care workers. They reinforce the urgency to halt the cycle of harm and prevent, handle, and heal from incidents of violence in the workplace. In particular, we welcome its recommendations to employers to help reduce the incidence of violence across all health care settings and roles.

The ANA Enterprise today announced the appointment of Dr. Loressa Cole as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). She will assume this role on May 7, 2018. 

Enthusiasm, persistence, passion, determination – those are just some of the qualities that can help  nurses who want to bring their innovative ideas to fruition, according to panelists at a morning session on the last day of the ANA Quality and Innovation Conference in Orlando. The panelists also shared their personal journeys in innovation, their work, and some practical and inspiring strategies with conference attendees.

ANA applauds the introduction of The Safe Staffing for Nurse and Patient Safety Act of 2018 in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. The legislation requires Medicare-participating hospitals to form committees, comprised of at least 55 percent direct care nurses, to create and implement unit specific nurse-to-patient ratio staffing plans. This staffing approach will benefit patients, registered nurses (RNs) and hospitals by decreasing adverse health events, nurse turnover, and costly hospital readmissions.

The American Nurses Association (ANA) stated today that its #EndNurseAbuse initiative, which launched in 2017 to address workplace abuse against nurses, includes eliminating sexual harassment.

"Nurses are obliged to provide for patient safety, to avoid patient abandonment, and to withdraw only when assured that nursing care is available to the patient. Nurses who decide not to participate on the grounds of conscientious objection must communicate this decision in a timely and appropriate manner, in advance and in time for alternate arrangements to be made for patient care."

The American Nurses Association believes that respect for the inherent dignity, worth, unique attributes, and human rights of all individuals is a fundamental principle. ANA’s Code of Ethics with Interpretive Statements establishes the ethical standard for the profession to advocate for social justice and human rights, especially for those whose rights may be more easily violated or not fulfilled.