Cultivating Quality Archives

AJN May Issue: What We Know About MIS-C, Clinician Peer Support, More

“The nursing mentality is complicated: we typically prioritize patients, family, and friends above ourselves. . . . No one understands the mentality except those in it.”—Janey Eden Kottler in her Reflections essay, “Built for This”

May is National Nurses Month. This month, and always, AJN and its publisher, Wolters Kluwer, honor the work of all nurses as you demonstrate to the world the power and value of nursing. To thank you, the entire May issue is free to read for the month.

CE: Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children: A Review

This comprehensive evidence-based review describes the epidemiology, pathophysiology, signs and symptoms, alternative potential diagnoses, and treatment options of MIS-C, an emerging pediatric disorder associated with COVID-19.

CE: Providing Care for Caregivers During COVID-19

The authors discuss Care for the Caregiver—a peer-to-peer program that provides support to clinicians who have experienced an unexpected and emotionally distressing event—and how it was adapted in their health system in response to the pandemic.

Special Feature: A Look Back at the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife

A photo-essay highlights the diverse experiences of nurses and midwives around the world during a challenging year. […]

Diane Szulecki, editor2021-04-23T10:15:02-04:00April 23rd, 2021|Nursing|0 Comments

Confused About the Charge Nurse Role? You’re Not Alone

Charge nurses—as is often the case, there’s the ideal and the reality. Consider a recent blog post at the nursing blog At Your Cervix, which expresses some honest reservations about acting as a charge nurse—both about the challenges involved, and the lack of compensation for the added duties. Here’s an excerpt:

I’m really not so sure about this charge nurse thing. I was told when I arrived on a recent shift that I was to be in charge. I think I’ve done charge (maybe?) three times. Those times were only because there was no one available who did charge, and I was the most likely choice to do it. I haven’t been trained or oriented to do charge. It was kind of a “toss her in there and do it” situation.

If you read the entire post, you’ll learn that this blogger isn’t so sure she wants to take this role on again anytime soon. As it happens, AJN published a CE article back in September of last year (our clinical editor, Christine Moffa, wrote this post about it at the time) on an initiative which took place at the highly respected New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Its goal was to figure out this charge nurse thing in a more systematic and sensible way.