ROLE OF PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AND UNIONS

INTRODUCTION:

Nursing is an art and science and is hence based on an ever changing and expanding body of
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 of
interferences 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.

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.

QUALITYOF PROFESSION:

A profession possesses the following characteristics

1.Members of a profession have autonomy in decision making and practice.

 A profession provides a specific service.
 A profession has a theoretical body of knowledge leading to defined skills, abilities and norms.
 A profession requires an extended education of its members, as well as a basic liberal
foundation.

2.Development and monitoring of professional educational programs, and the updating of

skills
 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.
 Also act like a cartel or a labour union (trade union) for the members of the profession.
 Act to maintain their own privileged and powerful position as a controlling body.
 Represent the interest of the professional practitioners.
 To safeguard the public interest, protect the public by maintaining and enforcing standards of
training and ethics in their profession.
 A group of people in a learned occupation who are entrusted with maintaining control or
oversight of the legitimate practice of the occupation.
 The professionas a whole has a code of ethics for practice.
ROLE OF PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION 
1. 3.  To improve patient outcomes and quality of care
ORGANIZING STRATEGIESOF UNIONS Social need to be accepted  To eliminate
discrimination and favoritism  To increase their input in to organizational decision making
 To increase the power of individual  Agreement or harmony resulting from the uniting of
individuals; concord. NEED FOR PROFESSIONAL UNIONS  Every member of which is
an element of one or another of two or more given sets.  A combination so formed,
especially an alliance or confederation of people, parties for mutual interest or benefit.  The
act of uniting or the state of being united.  Many professional bodies also act as learned
societies for the academic disciplines underlying their professions. PROFESSIONAL
UNIONS  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.  Thus perform professional certification to indicate that a person
possesses qualifications in the subject area. 
2. 4.  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:
 A belief that unions promote the welfare state and oppose their own regulations
 A belief that professionals should not unionize
 Identification with management viewpoint
 Fear of employer reprisal
 Fear of lost income associated with strike or walkout
 Technology
REASONS WHY NURSES DO NOT WANT TO JOIN UNIONS
 Political pressure of regional legislators and law makers
 Activism of local employees
 Bringing pressure from financiers
 Using lawsuits
 Corporatecampaign strategies
 Pressure on the hospital corporationthrough media and community contacts
 Organizing and conducting meetings (both group and one to one) 5. 

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:
 Midwives and Auxiliary Nurse-Midwives Association (1925)
 Health Visitors’ League (1922)
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:
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 of Conferences. Sports and games are becoming
extremely popular and competitions are held at state level at present
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 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. 
Members of professional organizations value professional programmes, improvement of
profession, social benefits and membership benefits.  Nursing associations provide many different
services to their members namely journals, continuing education, certification, social benefits and
networking.  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.  Currently only half the actual numbers of nurses in India are members of T.N.A.I.
MEMBERSHIP:
3. 8.  c. In-service Education Departments. b. Health Supervisors’ Training Centers.  a. Auxiliary
Nurse Midwife or ‘Multipurpose Health Worker (Female)’ Training Centers.  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:  Schools of nursing conducting GNM
programmes, especially those Schools which are attached to Medical College Hospitals, should be
upgraded to Colleges of Nursing.  (iv) General Nursing and Midwifery Diploma / Certificate
Programme (GNM) should be phased out in a planned manner in a specified time frame.  b)
Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) programme for Preparation of Nursing Auxiliaries/ Health Workers
for the institutions and the Community Health care system respectively.  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.  (iii) The TNAI supports two levels of
Basic Nursing Education and Training:  (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.  (i) Basic Nursing Education
should include both theory and practice, and conform to the regulations and syllabi prescribed by the
Indian Nursing Council. services. 1. BasicNursing Education
4. 9.  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, The TNAI
has a responsibility to strengthen continuing education programmes being vital to Nurses in the
maintenance of professional competence throughout their careers.  (iii) Doctoral studies in Nursing
should be started in selected universities, which have Departments of Nursing/allied areas. 3.
ContinuingEducation  (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.  (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.  The TNAI supports the development of:  Post-Basic Nursing Education refers to
education attained after Basic Nursing education (Basic B.Sc. Nsg./General Nursing and Midwifery
 Diploma /Certificate).  According to INC norms only a Nurse should be the administrative head of
the educational institution. 2. Post-BasicNursing Education 
5. 10. the highest priority should be given to supporting development of In-service Nursing Education
and training at the hospital and 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
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 district levels. 4. Evidencebased practice
6.  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.

7. REFERENCES:
1) "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)