The Wisconsin Nurses Association (WNA) is about to enter into a new 100 years. Over the past year Joyce Anderson has written a series of articles about the historic impact of our professional organization in her series, “And the Beat Goes On.” I recently reflected on what WNA membership has meant to me during my career and want to share a few of the ideas with you. My membership has helped me both professionally and personally.

Professionally I have been able to gain a better understanding of the issues facing nursing and what kinds of actions I can take to promote a good outcome. Joyce Anderson’s article in the September issue demonstrates what WNA did to help APNPs receive prescriptive authority. Every member was able to use “talking points” prepared by WNA to talk to their legislators.

I have been able to take advantage of many CEU opportunities over the years. I had the confidence that approved contact hours meant the program would be good and meet certain criteria.

As a member, I have continuously been apprised of political issues impacting nursing on a state and on a national level. As a member and chairperson of the Wisconsin Nurses Political Action Committee (WINPAC) I gained an immense knowledge about how politics work and how to evaluate candidates for endorsement in their campaigns.

One of the greatest values of membership is the networking that happens as a result of becoming involved in the organization. I can’t tell you how many times I have been sitting in a committee meeting when someone came up with a particular thought and I would ask them to write an article for Nursingmatters about the issue or their story. Networking is also a great stimulus for idea generation. When a group of nurses are working on solving a problem you can just feel the creativity in the group.

One example of how this networking works is Nursingmatters. Back in the late 1980s I was representing WNA on a statewide committee looking at the nursing shortage. Funding was running out for the committee. The chairperson, Vivien DeBack, asked for ideas on how we could get the word out to nurses in the state. She said, “I wish there was a nurse entrepreneur out there who would take up that challenge.” I couldn’t wait for the meeting to get over so I could talk to her about doing a newspaper for the state. So 20 years later we still have our communication tool. If I had not been at that meeting, I would never have started this newspaper. This just shows how belonging to your professional organization can change your life for the better!

Personally, I have improved my speaking and presenting skills as a result of my membership. I started small – doing a 20-minute presentation as part of a CEU program. I ended up doing whole-day seminars. Just the exercise of getting approval for part or all of a seminar is a learning experience and helps to make better presentations.

I have improved my leadership skills as a result of taking on committee chairs and serving on the WNA Board of Directors. That service and the networking have caused me to be asked to serve on other boards which have also helped my growth.

Finally, I have gained a sense of inner peace from knowing that, as a member, I am stewarding a profession that I love and respect. It can’t get better than that!