obesity Archives - Off the Charts

New RNs’ “Reality Shock”: And Other Recommended Reading from AJN’s April Issue

On this month’s cover is a prototype for Horizon Hospital—a “sustainable hospital of the future”—created by Gensler, a global design and architecture firm. Read “On the Cover” to learn more.

The April issue of AJN is now live.

This month’s CE article, “Nursing and Climate Mitigation: Decarbonization,” reviews climate change causes and what is required to mitigate greenhouse gas pollution, outlines actions nurses can take in all practice settings, and discusses the roles of nursing education and professional nursing organizations in tackling this critical challenge.

“While the academic–practice gap in nursing is widely acknowledged, substantive research exploring it from the perspective of new graduate RNs’ transition into practice is lacking,” writes Amy Zipf, the author of “The New Graduate RN Speaks, Again: A Mixed-Methods Study.” Learn about her study—which explores the specific gaps experienced by new graduate RNs working in medical–surgical hospital-based settings—here.

“AJN Reports: The Shadowy Middlemen Shaping Drug Prices” takes a close look at the role of pharmacy benefit managers in determining how
much consumers pay at the pharmacy counter and influencing which drugs they use.

“Gamified Interventions for Obesity and Overweight Prevention and Treatment: A Scoping Review” explores, maps, and investigates gamified tools to address obesity […]

Diane Szulecki, editor2025-03-27T11:45:11-04:00March 27th, 2025|Nursing|0 Comments

A Paradigm Shift in Obesity Care: Recommended Reading in AJN’s June Issue

The June issue of AJN is now live.

Obesity, which is depicted on the June cover, has steadily increased in prevalence in the United States over the past three decades. This month’s AJN Reports, “Weight Loss Medications: Stigma and Shortages,” takes a close look at the multifaceted implications of new medications to treat obesity. (Also see editor-in-chief Carl Kirton’s editorial, “A Paradigm Shift in Obesity Care.”)

“Nursing Care for Patients After Urostomy Surgery” details pre- and postoperative interventions for nurses who encounter patients undergoing urostomy surgery. It also includes a tear sheet that nurses can use to provide patients with the basic information and skills they need for effective self-care. (CE credit available)

Can physical activity help alleviate nurse burnout? This month’s Original Research article, “Addressing Nurse Burnout: The Relationship Between Burnout and Physical Activity” describes a cross-sectional study that sought to determine whether a correlation exists between self-reported physical activity levels and nurses’ perception of burnout in a sample of hospital RNs.

In “Improving Compliance with a Nurse-Driven Protocol for Unfractionated Heparin Infusions in Patients with Venous Thromboembolism,” the authors discuss a QI initiative to reduce patient safety events related to unfractionated […]

Diane Szulecki, editor2024-05-28T15:00:03-04:00May 28th, 2024|Nursing|0 Comments

August Issue: Obesity-Related Cancer, Simulation-Based Education, Secondhand Smoke Screening, More

“A respite for nurses may be more needed than ever. Workplaces are more complex than they used to be and . . . changing faster. . . . And there never seem to be enough people to do what needs to be done.” —editor-in-chief Shawn Kennedy, in her editorial, “A Day By the Sea”

The August issue of AJN is now live. Here’s what’s new:

CE: Original Research: The Clinical Research Nurse: Exploring Self-Perceptions About the Value of the Role

This study analyzes how clinical research nurses perceive the value of their practice, specifically as it relates to the care of clinical research subjects and the implementation of clinical research protocols.

CE: Obesity-Related Cancer in Women: A Clinical Review

The author discusses the role of obesity in the development and recurrence of breast, gynecologic, and colorectal cancers in women; describes weight loss interventions that may help overweight or obese patients reduce their cancer risk; and explains interviewing techniques nurses can use with such patients.

Special Feature: The Changing Landscape of Simulation-Based Education

This article details three foundational concepts of simulation-based education: prebriefing, debriefing, and safety in simulation. It also provides examples of academic, hospital- and health care center–based, and in situ simulation programs.

Cultivating Quality: Improving Screening and Education for Secondhand Smoke Exposure […]
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Diane Szulecki, editor2019-07-29T13:28:02-04:00July 29th, 2019|Nursing|0 Comments

AJN in October: Nursing Student Errors, Septic Shock Resuscitation, the Ethics of Workarounds, More

The October issue of AJN is now live. Here are some articles we’d like to bring to your attention.

CE: Original Research: Exploring How Nursing Schools Handle Student Errors and Near Misses

The authors investigate nursing school policies and practices for reporting and tracking student errors and near misses. The first part of a two-part series.

CE: Assessing Patients During Septic Shock Resuscitation

How to integrate capillary refill time and skin mottling score into the perfusion reassessment after initial fluid resuscitation—as recommended by revisions to the Surviving Sepsis Campaign six-hour bundle.

Obesity and Sexual Dysfunction: Making the Connection

Obesity affects patients’ general health, but does it affect their sexuality? A review of the evidence on obesity and sexual functioning, plus nursing considerations for addressing weight-loss strategies with patients.

Workarounds Are Routinely Used By Nurses—But Are They Ethical?

How nurses can be creative problem solvers without resorting to workarounds that may be ethical in intent yet potentially harmful in their consequences.

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Diane Szulecki, editor2017-09-29T08:30:14-04:00September 29th, 2017|Nursing|0 Comments

Metabolic Syndrome: Lifestyle Factors and Prevention

Metabolic syndrome: one-third of U.S. adults.

Conversations about health—whether between neighbors or between clinicians and patients—often revolve around weight problems, blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels. Taken together, these are the cardiovascular risk factors referred to as metabolic syndrome.

In the United States, more than one-third of all adults have metabolic syndrome. This is an astonishing figure, especially because these risk factors can be modified.

What keeps some who are obese or overweight ‘metabolically healthy’?

In recent years, researchers have learned that some people who are overweight or obese do not demonstrate the other risk factors that are part of metabolic syndrome, and therefore these people have a lower-than-expected risk of cardiovascular disease. In a study reported in this month’s AJN (“Examining the Links Between Lifestyle Factors and Metabolic Syndrome“), a group of Taiwanese nurse researchers set out to learn whether there might be lifestyle factors that keep this subgroup of people “metabolically healthy,” protecting them from the other cardiovascular risk factors that usually come with extra weight.

Lifestyle factors associated with prevention.

Dr. Shu-Hung Chang and colleagues performed community-based physical exams on more than 700 people in northern Taiwan and questioned them about lifestyle factors including smoking, drinking, exercise, and the foods they ate. The researchers […]

Betsy Todd, MPH, RN2017-07-27T11:53:43-04:00December 5th, 2016|nursing research, personal health practices|1 Comment