2017 Gold Report Refines COPD Treatment Algorithms

“As with many other chronic diseases, laboratory measures don’t always consistently reflect the extent of a person’s clinical symptoms or quality of life.”

Updated recommendations for managing COPD.

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It’s nearly autumn, the time of year when we start to see exacerbations of chronic lung disease, including COPD. That’s why we’ve included an informative and readable COPD update in this month’s AJN.

Authors Amy O’Dell and colleagues discuss the latest recommendations from the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD). GOLD was launched 20 years ago in order to disseminate strategies for the prevention and management of this disease. The most recent GOLD report was released in 2017, with its recommendations further tweaked this year.

Treatment category based on spirometry plus symptoms and history.

One of the most exciting aspects of the 2017 recommendations is the way in which spirometry and a person’s clinical symptoms and history of exacerbations have been put together in order to determine a patient’s treatment category.

In the past, spirometric measurements have been key drivers of treatment. Yet as with many other chronic diseases, laboratory measures don’t always consistently reflect the extent of a person’s clinical symptoms or quality of life. Some people have “off the charts” lab readings for some […]

2018-09-21T08:52:41-04:00September 21st, 2018|Nursing|0 Comments
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Smoking Still Kills…in So Many Ways

Seven million tobacco deaths per year.

Today, May 31, is World No Tobacco Day, declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) to bring attention to the health problems caused by smoking. According to the WHO fact sheet on tobacco,

“Tobacco kills more than 7 million people each year. More than 6 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while around 890,000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.”

When nurses smoked at the nurses’ station.

It’s amazing to me how far we’ve come in a relatively short time in curbing smoking. When I first started working in hospitals, nurses would be smoking at the nurses’ station; shift report was often in a smoke-filled room; patients and visitors were allowed to smoke as long as there was no oxygen tank in the room. And I always hated sitting in the airline seat that was the dividing row from the smoking section—as if a small sign on the seat made a difference in keeping the smoke at bay!

Some resources.

This year, the focus is on smoking as a leading cause of cardiovascular disease—second only to hypertension. Here are some articles from AJN, plus resources that provide information about the mulitple negative health effects of […]

2018-05-31T12:27:31-04:00May 31st, 2018|personal health practices, Public health|1 Comment
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Remembering a Tough NYC Detective on the 41st Great American Smokeout

Photo of AJN editor-in-chief Shawn Kennedy AJN editor-in-chief Shawn Kennedy

My uncle Joe embodied the persona of the old-time tough NYC Irish detective—he was over six feet tall, had piercing blue eyes and white hair, always wore a tan raincoat, and always had a cigarette in his hand. As a child, my siblings and I were always a little bit afraid of him. That image faded, though, and my last image of him was hunched over, with an oxygen cannula, trying to breathe. All those cigarettes added up, and after a lifetime of smoking, he died from chronic lung disease. This was before the landmark report on smoking and health issued by the U.S. surgeon general in 1964. Tiffany, 35, Louisiana; quit smoking at 34; smoke-free since January 2012. (CDC) Tiffany, 35, Louisiana; quit smoking at 34; smoke-free since January 2012. (CDC)

Today is the 41st annual Great American Smokeout—the day created by the American Cancer Society (ACS) to help encourage smokers to quit smoking. According to […]

2016-11-21T13:00:49-05:00November 16th, 2016|Nursing, personal health practices, Public health|0 Comments
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AJN’s February Issue: COPD, Fungal Meningitis Outbreak, SIDs, Nursing Leadership

AJN0213 Cover OnlineAJN’s February issue is now available on our Web site. Here’s a selection of what not to miss.

Last month, we published findings from a quantitative study exploring antiparkinson medication–withholding times during hospitalization and symptom management. This month you can catch part two of this series, which reports on findings from a qualitative study on the perioperative hospitaliza­tion experiences of patients with Parkinson’s disease. Participants’ comments in this study made it clear that the actions of nurses could affect the perioperative experience for better or worse. The article is open access and can earn you 2.1 continuing education (CE) credits.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. Our CE feature “COPD Exacerbations” outlines current guidelines and evidence-based recommendations for identifying, assessing, and managing COPD exacerbations. The article is open access and can earn you 2.6 CE credits.

This month we introduce our new series, Perspectives on Leadership, which is coordinated by the American Organization of Nurse Executives. This first article, “Partnering for Change,” describes how one hospital’s nurse leaders and staff worked together to change the way nurses conduct shift report.

Matthews_BillboardEach year in the U.S., more than 4,500 infants die suddenly and unexpectedly. February’s In Our Community article, “Babies Are Still Dying of SIDS,” describes how a nurse’s advocacy and activism resulted in safe-sleep legislation. A podcast […]

2016-11-21T13:08:26-05:00February 1st, 2013|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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