Membership FAQ's

To help answer your most frequently asked questions, we have compiled this list. It includes:

• Membership issues
• Education issues
• Practice concerns
• Taking an Active Role in ATHNA

Membership

1. Can I call in or send you my credit card information, but not use PayPal?
   • At this time, we ask that you use your credit cards or a PayPal account if you wish to pay online. To pay by mail, please download the membership application from the membership page and submit it with a check to ATHNA, FDR Station, PO Box 7875, NY, NY 10150.
2. What do I get for my $25?
   • All the benefits of membership are listed on the Join ATHNA page on our website. And we will be adding more as membership grows...
3. Can I pay for several years at once?
   • Initially, we can only offer a one-year membership. We hope to add multiple year membership options in the future.
4. Will you have conferences? A newsletter? A journal?
   • At this time, we will not be sponsoring conferences or a journal, but we will be alerting ATHNA members to other professional meetings and sharing peer reviewed articles of note to travel health nurses.
5. Do you offer an exam?
   • No, we do not. As yet, travel health nursing is not a recognized nursing specialty within the United States.
6. Do you offer a certification?
   • A goal of our association is to seek recognition through the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). To date, ATHNA has completed three of the required four steps for professional recognition. Once we are an ANCC nursing specialty, we can decide if we want to create our own certification. The mechanism for certification has not been formulated as yet and most likely would be by professional portfolio, not a written test.
7. How will ATHNA keep me informed about its activities and opportunities for me to get more involved?
   • During this first year with members, we will be communicating primarily on the Members Only Portal. Please keep checking there for latest news and updates.
8. Do you plan to survey the members to learn about our expectations for ATHNA, what committees we would like to join, how we would like to see ATHNA grow?
   • Yes, we do plan to have an online survey in the fall that will address these and other issues. When available, the survey will be announced on the ATHNA website.
9. I would like to network with other travel health nurses. Will ATHNA publish a membership directory?
   • As we add members to ATHNA in the coming year, we do have plans to create a directory. The form and content of that directory will be one of the items in our fall 2010 member survey.

Education Issues

1. When will ATHNA start offering CE programs for members?
   • We will be offering CE programs this year. Keep checking our website for dates and details.
2. How do I apply for a scholarship to attend a travel health conference?
   • Active members who will present a poster or oral presentation at a professional meeting in 2011 will be eligible to apply for a Travel Well travel grant. Applications and eligibility guidelines will be posted on the Members Only Portal in October, 2010.

Practice Concerns

1. Will you answer clinical questions if we have any?
   • Unfortunately, we cannot. ATHNA cannot accept the potential liability of giving clinical guidance, nor do we have the current "nurse power" to reply to individual clinical emails. In the future, we do hope to offer educational content on our website that will address common pre-travel questions.
2. I would like a professional position in travel health nursing. How do I locate job opportunities?
   • Please check our website. We have some excellent suggestions for nurses eager to provide travel health care. Also, many nurses find travel health nursing positions by contacting public health, academic, and occupational health care employers. Consider seeking employment at one of the travel clinics listed on the CDC yellow fever directory (www.cdc.gov/travel) or the ISTM clinic listing (www.istm.org,).
3. Do you know about courses or academic programs for nurses who want to enter this field?
   • Right now there are no specific academic programs at U.S. nursing schools that prepare travel health nurses. Every year, however, there are conferences and CE programs offered by different organizations. Abroad, there are certificate and degree programs in Glasgow and London. Check the "White Box" on our home page for announcements of upcoming offerings.
4. Can I visit one of your sites?
   • We are sorry, but at the present time, ATHNA is not set up for on-site mentoring or training.

Taking an Active Role

1. How can I get more involved in ATHNA? Join a committee? Join the Board?
   • In the fall, we will announce a member survey that will give you an opportunity to actively participate in the committees, projects, and initiatives of ATHNA. We will welcome your ideas and enthusiastic participation.
2. Can I donate to ATHNA?
   • Yes, we are a 501C3 nonprofit organization....and you may donate to our growing group. Thank you! Donations are tax deductible and may be sent to our mail box c/o ATHNA FDR Station, P.O. Box 7875, NY, NY 10150.

ATHNA, ISTM, and ASTMH

1. What is ISTM?
   • ISTM is the International Society of Travel Medicine. It has members from around the world and supports a nurse professional group. To learn more about this group go to their website at www.istm.org.
2. What is ASTMH?
   • The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. It has an active travel medicine section and nurses are eligible to join. For more information go to their website at www.astmh.org.
3. How is ATHNA different from ISTM?
   • ATHNA is a nursing association solely devoted to fostering the growth and professional development of travel health nursing in the United States. ISTM is an international organization for all professionals engaged in travel medicine, including physicians, pharmacists, researchers, and governmental officials from around the globe. Nurses are eligible to join both groups.
4. Is ATHNA part of ISTM or ASTMH?
   • No, ATHNA is a separate entity chartered in the United States.
5. If I join ATHNA should I still join ISTM or ASTMH?
   • We encourage all persons practicing travel health to join any organization that will support your career and increase your professional knowledge and skill.