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PHILOSOPHY OF MEMBERSHIP ELIGIBILITY
Sigma Theta Tau's philosophy of membership eligibility is based upon the purposes of the society. Membership is a reward for achievement of the membership criteria of Sigma Theta Tau. Awarding membership encourages, fosters and actively supports further professional development, thus promoting nursing scholarship, leadership, creativity and commitment to nursing, fulfilling the purposes of the honor society.
Sigma Theta Tau endeavors to seek out and reward all students in baccalaureate or higher degree nursing programs who have demonstrated ability in nursing as evidenced by superior academic achievement. Personal achievement of the purposes of Sigma Theta Tau is a developmental process, therefore, individuals who do not meet the eligibility requirements as undergraduate students may emerge to meet the requirements later in their graduate program or professional careers as community nurse leaders. The growth of the society and its continued support of the purposes are reflected through the membership selection process. Chapters, which are the mechanisms for inducting eligible candidates, take an imperative position to seek and recognize all qualified candidates in their geographic area.
BACCALAUREATE STUDENT MEMBERS
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| SUPERIOR SCHOLASTIC ACHIEVEMENT |
- Overall G.P.A. of 3.0 or higher
- G.P.A. in nursing courses 3.0 or higher
- Completed one half of the program
- Ranks in upper 35 % of graduating class
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| EVIDENCE OF LEADERSHIP POTENTIAL |
- Participation as learner observer in voluntary agencies related to health care
- Participation as a student representative in course committees and/or standing committees
- Demonstrates leadership or potential leadership as documented by faculty and peers in Sigma Theta Tau
- Participation in student organizations and the Student Nursing Organization (SNA) at college (e.g. membership, committee activities, elected officer)
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| MARKED ACHIEVEMENT IN THE FIELD OF NURSING |
- Performance in clinical as identified by faculty
- Documentation of career goals
- Potential for marked achievement as documented by faculty or Sigma Theta Tau members, e.g. completes assigned tasks, identifies and defines role expectations of others, interacts easily with others, sticks to convictions in the face of opposition
- Demonstrates characteristics of inquiring behaviors regarding research and its impact on nursing practice
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GRADUATE STUDENT MEMBERS
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| SUPERIOR SCHOLASTIC ACHIEVEMENT |
- Overall G.P.A. of 3.5 or higher
- G.P.A. in nursing courses 3.5 or higher
- Completed one fourth of the program
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| EVIDENCE OF LEADERSHIP POTENTIAL |
- Participation in professional organizations, e.g. membership, committee activities, elected officer
- Participation in collegiate relationships with voluntary agencies related to health care
- Participation in university/college committee activities
- Documentation of leadership ability and potential through comments from faculty and peers
- Participation in student organizations at college
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| MARKED ACHIEVEMENT IN THE FIELD OF NURSING |
- Performance in clinical and academic settings as documented by faculty and Sigma Theta Tau members.
- Documentation of career goals
- Documentation of demonstrated achievement by faculty or Sigma Theta Tau members or employer (if five years have lapsed since graduation from generic nursing program)
- Documentation of potential for nursing research by faculty.
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COMMUNITY LEADER MEMBERS
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| MASTER'S AND DOCTORALLY PREPARED LEADERS |
- Nursing faculty in educational programs, with or without existing chapters
- Practitioners
- Researchers
- Administrators
- Authors
- Leaders of professional organizations
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| BACHELOR'S PREPARED LEADERS |
- Leaders in nursing practice, education organizations who demonstrate outstanding achievement
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| ALUMNI OF PETITIONING SCHOOLS |
- Alumni of petitioning schools who graduated prior to chartering are eligible at the time of chartering if their academic records indicate scholastic achievement and they show evidence of leadership and/or marked achievement in the field of nursing
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| EXAMPLES OF ACHIEVEMENT FOR COMMUNITY LEADERS (not exhaustive) |
- Education documented by faculty, peers and students in following areas:
- achievement in teaching
- achievement in curriculum development
- achievement in developing courses
- achievement in evaluation process
- achievement in clinical practice
- achievement in research
- evidence of publishing in any of the above areas
- Practice (independent or collaborative)
- Outstanding clinician in field as documented by peers and others
- Research may be in practice area, teaching, administration or independent.
- Outstanding as documented by peer researchers and nurse colleagues
- Publishable research
- Administration, nursing service individuals who create a climate for nurses to practice professional nursing.
- Educational individuals who create a positive climate for researching educators.
- Publications individuals who have published successfully, contributing to knowledge of nursing, or have successfully interpreted nursing to the public. Examples: Publishing books, Recognized journals, News media, TV and radio.
- Leader in professional organizations outstanding contributions to improvement of the status of professional nursing, i.e., ANA, NLN, state and national level members of state boards of nursing.
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