The American Nurses Association (ANA) is now an organizational affiliate of AcademyHealth, the professional society for health researchers, policy analysts, and practitioners. AcademyHealth is dedicated to improving the knowledge base of health care decision-making by supporting the professional development of those who conduct and use health services research, advocating for the tools and funding necessary to do this important work, and helping to translate research findings into policy and practice.
The Interdisciplinary Research Group on Nursing Issues (IRGNI) is a special interest group of AcademyHealth whose mission is to promote and support the development of health services research that focuses on nursing practice, workforce, and delivery of care. IRGNI members, for example, were involved in the development of the code of conduct for the recruitment of foreign educated nurses. You can join AcademyHealth and then join IRGNI for free, or sign up as a non-member of IRGNI and be placed on the mailing list to receive announcements about IRGNI activities.
In February, ANA staff met with leaders from AcademyHealth to discuss possible ways to work on issues of mutual interest. ANA is sponsoring a networking session of IRGNI at its half day educational program planned for June 11 in Seattle in conjunction with the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting. Continuing Education contact hours for nurses attending the conference will be provided by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN).
AcademyHealth has a variety of programs of interest to ANA members. These include programs focused on improving the quality of long term care; the development of a code of conduct for the ethical recruitment of foreign nurses; the challenges of using information generated by health information technology to improve the quality and efficiency of health care; and the promotion of evidence-based decision making in public health policy.
ANA and AcademyHealth look forward to opportunities for collaboration on issues of mutual interest. For more information or to get involved in AcademyHealth, please visit http://www.academyhealth.org/ or call Jane Brookstein at 202-292-6754.
