Caring for Transgender and Gender Diverse Patients: A Primer

“You must be Olivia! I’m Sara, and I’m going to be your nurse this afternoon.”

The patient looked up, taking a deep breath before speaking. “Actually . . . can you call me Ethan? I’ve been going by Ethan for the past six months, and I use he/they pronouns.” He watched Sara anxiously.

Sara stopped short for a moment, unsure what to do, seeing the name “Olivia” very clearly in the EHR. But she noticed how nervous the patient was, and she wanted to put him—them?—at ease.

Photo by Zackary Drucker/The Gender Spectrum Collection.

Providing informed, affirming care for transgender and gender diverse (TGD) patients can seem complex, especially for novice nurses. As authors Caitlin Marie […]

2021-09-29T08:59:27-04:00September 29th, 2021|new nurses, Nursing|0 Comments
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What Would It Have Helped to Know as a New Nurse?

An incomplete record of starting out as a nurse. 

When I think back on my first year as a nurse, I always say two things to myself: “I wish I had written more,” and “I wish someone had given me a more realistic how-to manual.” I try to remember patients from back then. What would I have shared, had I written about each one?

I was never not writing about something (sometimes what I wrote was published on this blog), but over time, as I moved away from bedside care and into administration, I wrote differently: policies and program plans, research protocols and systematic reviews. Although I rarely worked directly with patients anymore, their positive outcomes continued to motivate my every word.

I like to think my writing has grown with me. I’ve learned the power of the active voice; the structure required for the APA Writing Manual. 7th edition; and the deepening of understanding that comes from reading and reflection. But I will always wish for more writing—of any kind—from that first year. Even a scribble to jog my memory. This nursing birth of mine, like any birth, began my nursing life in a very specific way. I was challenged and tested, understood and got lost, and, tragically, […]

2023-01-30T10:34:04-05:00October 22nd, 2020|new nurses, Nursing, nursing career|0 Comments
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December Issue: Nurses’ Advance Care Planning–Related Beliefs, Managing Movement Disorders, Delegating, More

“When despair for the world grows in me…. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water…. I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”—Wendell Berry, as quoted in the December editorial

The December issue of AJN is now live. Here are some of the articles we’re pleased to have a chance to publish this month.

CE: Original Research: Advance Care Planning: An Exploration of the Beliefs, Self-Efficacy, Education, and Practices of RNs and LPNs

The authors of this study surveyed RNs and LPNs working in skilled nursing facilities to learn about the similarities and differences in their advance care planning–related beliefs, sense of self-efficacy, education, and practices.

CE: Managing Movement Disorders: A Clinical Review

This article discusses the pathophysiology and assessment of three different, common neuromuscular disorders—muscle tightness, spasticity, and clonus—as well as the treatment options for each.

Cultivating Quality: Creating a Culture of Mobility: Using Real-Time Assessment to Drive Outcomes

The authors describe how they implemented an intervention based on the use of three new assessment tools to promote awareness of the importance of early mobility among nurses and physical […]

2018-11-26T08:38:54-05:00November 26th, 2018|Nursing|0 Comments
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Are Hospitals Doing Enough to Help Newly Licensed RNs?

CalloutNewNursesVoices

Staff retention is a big issue in hospitals. There can be advantages in hiring newly licensed RNs, but some hospitals and workplaces may pay insufficient attention to helping new nurses with the challenging transition from classroom to clinical practice. In our November issue, some of these issues are brought more clearly to light by an original research article called “Hearing the Voices of Newly Licensed RNs: The Transition to Practice.”

“The first few months of employment is a crucial time in a nurse’s career,” write the authors of this small study. According to interviews with newly licensed RNs conducted by the authors, the following factors can make a big difference:

  • The quality of the preceptor—is the preceptor knowledgeable, adequately experienced, and nonjudgmental?
  • Professional growth and the development of confidence over time in terms of time-management, communication skills, and learning from experience.
  • A sense of being nurtured by the program, the preceptor, and peers.
  • The thoroughness and effectiveness of orientation.

Read the article, or listen to an author podcast on our Web site. What worked in your own transition to practice? What didn’t work? Or how do you help others with this transition? We’d love to know. —Jacob Molyneux, senior editor


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2016-11-21T13:06:00-05:00November 18th, 2013|career, nursing perspective|1 Comment
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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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