American Association of Critical-Care Nurses

The American Association of Critical Care Nurses, http://www.aacn.org. It’s purpose is dedicated to providing information, education and resources to nurses that work in the critical care capacity. It is a very easy to navigate page offering vast amount of information. The design is white background with two shades of blue for the tabs making it very appealing to the eyes. As stated on the home page, the site provides “Easy-to-use clinical resources and publications provide the standard for acute and critical care nursing practice”. Some of the links available are: standards

practice alerts
practice resource network
grants
healthy work environments

On the left hand site there is a ‘bar’ called “What’s New”. In this area information is provided on the newest hot topics or hot button issues currently in healthcare. One of the best features that I really like about this website is that there are educational resources and certifications available. The fees are reduced with membership. The registration process is as easy as a click of the mouse. I learned through this site about a designation called “Beacon Award for Excellence”. This award recognizes ‘North American hospital units that employ evidence-based practices to improve patient and family outcomes. Recipients of a Gold Beacon Award demonstrate excellence in sustained unit performance and patient outcomes. Silver-level recipients demonstrate continuous learning and effective systems to achieve optimal patient care. Bronze-level awardees demonstrate success in developing, deploying and integrating unit-based performance criteria for optimal outcomes.’

There only 17 ‘UNITS’, not hospitals in New Jersey to receive Beacon Awards and only 6 of the 17 are of the “Gold” level. There are 4 other tabs that I really liked, “Market Place” where you can buy books, miscellaneous items and discounted certificate programs. “Publications” which provides a full list of the latest nursing publications and articles. “Conferences” which gives a list of nationwide conferences with very east links available leading to the registration process. Lastly there is a link called “Clinical Practice” which helps Nurses of all levels from novice nurse to advanced practice nurse with evidence-based clinical practice resources and answers to all of their questions by providing access to CINAHL. My critique of this site is that it is extremely organized and full of resources to help nurses on all levels to provide the best possible care for all patients but specifically the critically ill. In addition to support and information regarding critically ill patients, there is a blue bar at the bottom of the page designed to help nurses in other capacities, including LPN’s and LVN’s. I am going to join this organization.