8 Top Family Nurse Practitioner Professional Organizations & Associations

Written By: Kasee Wiesen DNP, APRN, FNP-C

Are you a family nurse practitioner who wants to become more involved? Do you want to meet more FNPs, learn from their experiences, and be exposed to new opportunities? Or have access to more CEU programs tailored to family practice? If you answered yes to any of these questions, joining a professional family nurse practitioner organization or association may be perfect.

So, what are the top family nurse practitioner professional organizations and associations? Below, you will find a list of the eight leading professional family nurse practitioner organizations and associations nationwide.

What Are The 3 Major Benefits of Joining Professional Family Nurse Practitioner Organizations/Associations?

There are many benefits of joining a professional family nurse practitioner organization or association. Below I will discuss three significant benefits of joining a top family nurse practitioner organization or association in no particular order.

1. Sense of Community and Networking Opportunities:

The top FNP organizations and associations will offer an understanding of community and networking opportunities. This is great for FNPs as it helps form connections and relationships between NPs with similar interests, conflicts, and concerns. Belonging to a community and networking with like-minded people can improve patient care, new opportunities, and job satisfaction.

2. Continuing Education:

Many of the top professional FNP organizations and associations offer CEU opportunities as part of their membership. This may include webinars, in-person conferences, and virtual conferences. Some of the CEUs may be free to members, while others may be able to receive a discounted rate. Regardless, these FNP organizations and associations offer education to expand and enhance your FNP practice to ensure the delivery of high-quality, evidence-based care.

3. Access to information to further develop your skills:

Not all information in professional FNP organizations or associations is CEU credit. Many family nurse practitioner organizations and associations offer access to research, informative articles about building on leadership skills, etc., and even patient information tools and resources that you can utilize when educating your patients.

WHAT ARE THE TOP FAMILY NURSE PRACTITIONER PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS & ASSOCIATIONS IN THE NATION?

Below, I will discuss eight of the nation's top family nurse practitioner organizations and associations. Please note these are in no particular order.

1. International Family Nursing Association

About:

The International Family Nursing Association (IFNA) is for nurses who desire to improve the quality of care and overall health of families. It comprises nurses from all over the world who share a passion for caring for families through networking with other nurses who share similar passions. The Association provides webinars, education, research, and an online community to advocate further, support, and improve healthcare delivery to families.

How to Become a Member:

There are multiple ways to become a member of the International Family Nursing Association.

• Active Member: $125 year annually
• Sustaining Active Member: $225 annually--$100 is applied to the Association to help sustain the IFNA
• Active member (2 years): $225
• Retired Member: $75 annually
• Student Member: $75 annually
• Chapter NEW IFNA Member: $75
• JARFN Member: $75 annually
• Emerging Country Class Level 1: $25 annually—emerging country classification is based on the WHO (www.WHO.int).
• Emerging Country Class Level 2: $50-- emerging country classification is based on the WHO (www.WHO.int).

Benefits Of Joining:

Benefits of joining the organization include access to research, education, and resources specific to delivering healthcare to families. The IFNA also provides an online community of family nurses worldwide to network with and learn from.

2. American Nurses Association (ANA)

About:

The American Nurses Association (ANA) is a professional organization for nurses with 4 million members from all backgrounds in nursing. The ANA aims to support nurses, advance nursing care to promote better health, and provide opportunities to advocate for the nursing profession to create an environment where nurses can succeed.

How to Become a Member:

Visit https://www.nursingworld.org/membership/joinANA/ to become a member

Benefits Of Joining:

The benefits of joining the ANA are tremendous and include access to continuing education opportunities, a career center, and a discount on ANCC certifications. You will also access publications, professional tools, conferences, and an online community. The ANA will also provide a platform for healthcare policy, among many other benefits.

3. American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP)

About:

The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) is a professional organization comprised of more than 121,000 nurse practitioners to improve patient care and advance the NP profession.

How to Become a Member:

To become a member of the AANP, visit https://my.aanp.org/logincreate?appUrl=https://my.aanp.org/JoinRenewMembership.aspx.

Benefits Of Joining:

Benefits of joining the AANP include a discount on UpToDate membership, free subscription to 2 NP journals, and access to the AANP Government Affairs Newsletter. You will also get access to CEUs, discount conferences, and events, along with many other benefits.

4. Nurse Practitioner Associates for Continuing Education (NPACE)

About:

The Nurse Practitioner Associates for Continuing Education (NPACE) is a non-profit organization for family nurse practitioners that provides continuing education programs for nurse practitioners and other advanced care providers. The CEU programs offered by NPACE are evidence-based and designed to enhance and advance the NP's role in ensuring high-quality care.

How to Become a Member:

There is no membership fee to join NPACE. Any NP can visit their website to acquire information about CEU opportunities—and sign up.

Benefits Of Joining:

Benefit of visiting the NPACE website is to learn about a variety of CEU opportunities for NPs in all specialties--including on-demand classes, in-person conferences, and virtual conferences.

5. Nurse Practitioner Healthcare Foundation

About:

The Nurse Practitioner Healthcare Foundation was founded to promote and improve the quality of care provided by nurse practitioners. The Foundation achieves this through advancements in healthcare policy, education, scholarship, and volunteering.

How to Become a Member:

There is no membership fee to join. Visit their website to access the resources they provide. There are also opportunities to volunteer for the Foundation.

Benefits Of Joining:

No membership is needed—but the website provides access to continuing education opportunities, scholarships and awards, and other helpful information for the family nurse practitioner.

6. National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties

About:

The National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties was founded in 1974 to develop guidelines for the NP curriculum. In 1980, the focus of the Organization shifted and started to foster discussions regarding NP education issues.

How to Become a Member:

There are multiple different paths a nurse can take to join the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties—and regardless of when you join, the membership cycle is from September 1 to August 31.

• Program/School Membership: $860 for nurse practitioner educational programs. This membership includes four faculty memberships and costs an additional $175 per faculty member added.
• Individual Membership: $215—available for any nurse holding a faculty or preceptor position in an NP program.
• Student Membership--$125—available to nurse practitioners enrolled in a graduate/doctoral program.
• Retired Membership: $75—available to NP faculty members who are retired from academia.
• Associate Membership: $225—available to non-faculty nurses or non-NP retired faculty members

Benefits Of Joining:

There are many benefits to joining the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties, including networking opportunities, access to resources, and discounted rates for conferences and webinars. You will also be able to participate in Special Interest Groups.

7. American Association for the History of Nursing

About:

The American Association for the History of Nursing was founded in 1978 and, for a short period, was named the International History of Nursing Society. This professional organization aims to bring awareness to the importance of nursing history and its significance in understanding the past, outlining the present, and affecting the future. The Association is for anyone interested in the history of nursing.

How to Become a Member:

You can apply to become a member of the American Association for the History of Nursing through their website. There are different options for becoming a member of the Association, which include:

• Regular Member: $200; You can donate an additional $100 to become a Supported Member
• Student Member: $90 (full-time student); You can add an additional student to your membership for only $10
• Retired Member: $120; this is for those who have been members of the Association and retired from their nursing career. This is for US and International retired members.
• Agency Member: $200; for organizations, corporations, and agencies interested in the Association.
• International Member: $150; For those who live outside of the US
• Institutional Member: $600; for history centers, nursing departments, agencies, organizations, or corporations interested in the Association.

Benefits Of Joining:

There are many benefits of joining the American Association for the History of Nursing, including access to publications, research, and a reduced rate to the American Journal of Nursing. You will also get a reduced rate for the annual meeting and access to the annual journal and all newsletters. Lastly, you gain access to the membership directory, which can provide networking opportunities.

8. American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board

About:

The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board is a non-profit national certification board for nurse practitioners. It is geared toward NPs who want to enter, continue or advance their NP career through the certification process. They offer three certification exams: Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP), Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (AGNP), and Emergency Nurse Practitioner (ENP) specialty certification.

How to Become a Member:

There is no membership fee for the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board. There are fees to take the certification exam and to re-certify—and if you are a member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) or American Academy of Emergency Nurse Practitioners (AAENP), you can receive a discount on the exams offered and re-certification fees.

Benefits Of Joining:

The benefits of joining the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board are to become a board-certified FNP or AGNP or to receive the ENP certification.

My Final Thoughts

After reading the article above, I hope you were able to answer the question what are the top family nurse practitioner professional organizations and associations? While I provided a list of 8 of the top professional family nurse practitioner organizations and associations, please note that many other excellent organizations and associations are available to FNPs.