American Nurses Association (ANA) Community Rules

Thank you for being part of our community. The American Nurses Association (ANA) Communities are digital platforms focused on various issues in nursing, exclusively for ANA Members. Before interacting within one of the ANA Communities, please read the rules below. 

Code of Conduct

By joining and participating in this community, you agree that you have read and will follow these rules and guidelines. Failure to follow the rules may result in disciplinary action, such as deleting your post/comment or banning the user from the ANA Communities. ANA has the right to delete any message for any reason.

1.      Be kind to fellow community members.

The ANA Communities are an inclusive and welcoming environment for its members. Healthy debates are acceptable, but kindness is required. If you disagree with someone, do so kindly and respectfully.

2.      No hate speech or bullying.

Degrading comments based on race, religion, culture, sexual orientation, political affiliation, disability, gender, or identity will not be tolerated. Bullying will not be tolerated. Any content that breaks this rule will be immediately deleted.

3.      Do not post requesting participation in your research study or survey.

We want to ensure our communities stay on topic and organized. As such, requests for participants for your research study or survey are not allowed. Posts that break this rule will be deleted. You may, however, post peer-reviewed research articles to discuss with fellow community members.

4.       No commercial messages, events, or job postings.

Any product, service, or event that you directly profit from cannot be posted in the ANA Communities. You may never promote an event not created, sponsored, or in partnership with ANA. This also includes some no-cost events. You cannot post an open job position or request for jobs in the ANA Communities. Posts, comments, and other content that include commercial messages will be deleted.

If you’re interested in advertising your no-cost event, you can send a request by visiting Contact Us - ANA Community and filling out the form, or via email to community.manager@ana.org. Please note that you will need to receive explicit approval prior to your post being made, or it will be deleted.

5.      Do not post any requests regarding preceptorships or external mentoring programs.

To keep the communities on-topic, requests for preceptorships will be promptly removed. You may, however, post about your experience during your preceptorship, advice regarding your preceptorship, and other posts that are not direct requests for preceptorships.

In addition, please do not post a request for a mentor or mentee. ANA provides multiple mentoring resources, including our Mentor Community, Mentee Community, and Mentoring Programs. Contact a mentor or mentee on our Mentoring Hub here: https://mentorship.nursingworld.org/. Posts within one of the ANA Communities requesting a mentor or mentee will be promptly deleted.

6.      Posts should be related to nursing and/or health care.

Staying on topic in our communities will help keep them organized and easy for others to use. Informational articles, discussions, and other content related to nursing or health care are welcome within the ANA Communities.

7.      No sharing identifiable patient information.

Treating patients respectfully when discussing their information is of utmost importance within the ANA Communities.  You can post about situations with patients, but your post must be respectful, must not contain any identifiable information about the patient, and must follow all legal guidelines.

8.      Do not advocate for illegal or unsafe practices.

Posts, comments and any other content advocating for dangerous, unsafe or illegal practices will be immediately deleted. Any anti-science propaganda will be promptly deleted.

9.      No electioneering.

Do not make posts or comments that aim to advance an individual running for election. This includes posts related to running for positions on the ANA Board or any other committees.

      10. When seeking advice about colleagues, respect others’ privacy.

We understand you may seek advice regarding your preceptor, mentor, or mentee. However, please respect your colleagues’ identities. Do not reveal personal information about them, such as their full name, location, place of work, etc.  Any post or comment that does so will be deleted.

     11. Do not seek or provide medical advice within the ANA Communities

While posts about nursing and health care are approved topics, please do not post seeking a diagnosis for yourself, a patient, or a loved one. Any post or comment that does so will be deleted. In the event ANA is unable to delete those posts, ANA will not be legally liable for any medical advice provided within the ANA Communities.

Thank you for following and reading all the rules.

These rules are required to be followed by anyone posting on ANA Communities. Below, you can see a few general etiquette and best practice guidelines when posting in the community.

·         Please keep your posts related to nursing or health care.

·        When replying, please reply directly to the thread you’d like to respond to. Do not start a new thread to respond to an already posted thread.  Include a signature tag on all messages that include your name and affiliation.

·         If posting a message over 50 words in length, please include “Long Message” within the message’s subject line.

Privacy Policy

 The ANA Privacy Policy can be found here: https://www.nursingworld.org/privacy/

For questions or comments regarding these ANA-members-only communities, contact community.manager@ana.org.

For membership-related questions and concerns, please reach out to the email memberinfo@ana.org.

For any other issues related to the ANA members-only community, please contact the help desk here: Contact Us - ANA Community.

For contact information for our American Nurses Foundation or the American Nurse Credentialing Center (ANCC), visit this Contact Us page, and click the dropdown for the appropriate contact information.