Describe the organization and its significance to nurses in the specialty area. Include its purpose, mission, and vision.

The American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) is the world’s largest specialty nursing organization and the leading professional association for nurses who care for acutely and critically ill patients. AACN’s purpose is to “provide leadership, research, education, and practice resources that empower and support nurses caring for acutely and critically ill patients and their families” The mission of AACN is to “advance excellence in acute and critical care nursing practice through advocacy, competency development, resource utilization, evidence-based clinical practice guidelines”. The vision of AACN is to be “the global leader in advancing outstanding patient care by optimizing the knowledge, skillset, competencies, experiences and commitment of critical care nurses worldwide.”

AACN provides a wide range of resources for its members including educational programs such as webinars on new treatments or techniques; publications like white papers on trending healthcare topics; scholarships for continuing education; certification opportunities; networking events; job boards with relevant positions available in their specialty area; free online access to journal articles from top academic publishers as well as timely news updates related to acute/critical care nursing. All these resources provide invaluable assistance to nurses specializing in this field so they can stay up-to-date on current practices while providing the best possible level of care to their patients.