December Issue: Nurse Fatigue Solutions, Addressing Misinformation, More

“Nurses don’t care about being heroes. They want to be respected, protected, and enabled to do their jobs.”—editor-in-chief Shawn Kennedy in her December editorial, “Finding Joy in the Dark”

The December issue of AJN is now live. Here’s what’s new. Some articles may be free only to subscribers.

CE: Nurses Are More Exhausted Than Ever: What Should We Do About It?

This article discusses causes and challenges of nurse fatigue, evidence-based strategies and solutions for individual nurses and organizations, and changes needed to transform nursing culture and workplaces into more supportive environments for nurses.

Clinical Feature: Care Coordination: A Concept Analysis

The authors clarify care coordination as a concept and practice role and examine the value that nursing brings to its implementation.

Special Feature: A New Framework for Practice–Academic Partnerships During the Pandemic—and into the Future

This article outlines a model to provide nursing students with in-person clinical experiences during a public health crisis such as COVID-19, as well as the implications of using this model once the pandemic ends. […]

2021-11-22T08:39:18-05:00November 22nd, 2021|Nursing|0 Comments
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Case Studies in Effective Care Coordination by Nurses in Rural Kansas

“I did not have a clue how to proceed.”

Care coordinator Burlay Parks meets with a patient at Greeley County Health Services in Tribune, Kansas. Photo by Chrysanne Grund. Care coordinator Burlay Parks meets with a patient at Greeley County Health Services in Tribune, Kansas. Photo by Chrysanne Grund.

The opening sentence of “Pathfinding on the Frontier,” the In the Community column in the October issue of AJN, alludes to the confusion even the most organized and savvy person sometimes feels when navigating our health care system.

In rural settings, referrals to specialists from primary care providers can be difficult for patients and families to follow up on, sometimes requiring that patients travel great distances.

Patient care coordination has been shown to decrease the number of ED visits and hospitalizations. The authors of this article explore care coordination in two Kansas counties, presenting three case studies showing how a nurse care coordinator—as part of a program at a rural primary care practice funded by a two-year grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation—resolved complex issues for seriously or chronically ill patients involving medications, specialists, and diagnoses. […]

2016-11-21T13:01:56-05:00October 12th, 2015|Nursing, nursing perspective, Patients|1 Comment
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AJN in October: Ablation for A-Fib, Holistic Nursing, 50 Years of NPs, Care Coordination, More

AJN1015 Cover OnlineThis month’s cover celebrates AJN’s 115th anniversary with a collage of archival photographs and past covers. The images are intended to reflect the varied roles and responsibilities of nurses past and present, as well as to commemorate AJN‘s chronicling of nursing through the decades.

In this issue, we also celebrate another nursing milestone, the 50th anniversary of the NP, with a timeline (to view, click the PDF link at the landing page) that illustrates and recaps the significant progress made by this type of advanced practice nurse.

To read more about what has changed—and what hasn’t—for AJN and its readers after more than a century in print, see this month’s editorial, “Still the One: 115 and Going Strong.”

Some other articles of note in the October issue:

CE feature: “Integrative Care: The Evolving Landscape in American Hospitals.” As the use of complementary and alternative medicine has surged in popularity in the United States, many hospitals have begun integrating complementary services and therapies to augment conventional medical care. This first article in a five-part series on holistic nursing provides an overview of some of the integrative care initiatives being introduced in U.S. hospitals and reports on findings from a survey of nursing leaders at hospitals that have implemented such programs.

CE feature: “Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation.” This treatment for the most […]

2016-11-21T13:01:58-05:00September 30th, 2015|Nursing, nursing perspective|0 Comments
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Soul-Satisfied, but Heartbroken: The ‘Soft’ Skills of Oncology Nurse Navigators

Julianna Paradisi, RN, OCN, is an oncology nurse navigator and writes a monthly post for this blog. The illustration below is part of a series on mountains as barriers that she is working on.

Untitled oil stick & charcoal on paper by Julianna Paradisi Untitled oil stick & charcoal on paper by Julianna Paradisi

When I introduce myself to nurses as an oncology nurse navigator, they often respond, “Oh, that’s great,” staring blankly. Sometimes, in the midst of patient care, they say, “Yeah, that’s great, but I’m really busy. Come back later.”

Nurses caring for patients are really busy—so busy that this is one of the reasons the relatively new specialty of nurse navigators exists. Another reason is that oncology care is increasingly complex, and mostly occurs in the outpatient setting where vulnerable patients must fend for themselves.

Patient navigation was founded in 1990 by Harold P. Freeman at Harlem Hospital Center to improve outcomes for poverty-stricken African-American women presenting with stage III and IV breast cancer. Freeman declared, “The core function of patient navigation is the elimination of barriers to timely care across all segments of the healthcare continuum.”

In 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandated patient navigation for oncology by 2015. No […]

2016-11-21T13:02:21-05:00June 22nd, 2015|career, Nursing, nursing perspective, Patients|0 Comments
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Atrial Fibrillation: What the Newest Guideline Means for Nurses

Figure 1. Normal Sinus Rhythm and Two Types of Atrial Fibrillation. Images courtesy of ECGGuru.com. Figure 1. Normal Sinus Rhythm and Two Types of Atrial Fibrillation. Images courtesy of ECGGuru.com.

By Sylvia Foley, AJN senior editor

Atrial fibrillation, the most common chronic cardiac arrhythmia, affects an estimated three to six million Americans and can profoundly diminish their quality of life. Treatment guidelines for atrial fibrillation are frequently updated—a fact that “speaks to both the prevalence and the serious health care implications of the condition,” says Christine Cutugno, an experienced critical care nurse and educator. It can take time to determine just what has changed. She offers nurses ample guidance in one of this month’s CEs, “Atrial Fibrillation: Updated Management Guidelines and Nursing Implications.” Here’s a brief overview.

Atrial fibrillation is frequently associated with advancing age, structural cardiac dysfunction, and preexisting comorbidities. The most common complications, stroke and heart failure, result in significant morbidity and mortality. Indeed, atrial fibrillation is responsible for over 450,000 hospitalizations and 99,000 deaths annually and adds up to $26 billion to U.S. health care costs each year. Given the aging of the U.S. population, the incidence of atrial fibrillation is expected to double within the next 50 years. There is evidence that nursing intervention in patient education and transition of care coordination can improve adherence to treatment plans and patient outcomes.

This article reviews the recently updated guideline for the management of atrial fibrillation, issued jointly by the American Heart […]

2017-07-27T14:41:02-04:00May 15th, 2015|Nursing|0 Comments
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Views expressed on the blog are solely those of the authors or persons quoted. They do not necessarily reflect AJN’s views or those of Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
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