Off the Charts

Measles: Amplifying the Public Trust in Nurses to Address the Outbreaks

As of March 7, 2025, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that a total of 222 measles (rubeola) cases had been reported in 12 different U.S. jurisdictions: Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, and Washington. Among those cases, 94% were either unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status. Seventeen percent were hospitalized, with the majority of those cases among children 19 years of age or younger. Unfortunately, measles has already claimed the life of an unvaccinated child in Texas, which is reporting the largest outbreak, at 159 cases. The cause of a second death, of an unvaccinated deceased adult in New Mexico who was found to have measles, is still under investigation.

Measles is an airborne, highly infectious, and potentially severe illness. The vaccine [measles-mumps-rubella (MMR)] vaccine is more than 97% effective in preventing disease. In the United States, MMR coverage among kindergartners is now below the 95% coverage target, with rates much lower in some communities, and is continuing to decrease. In addition, global measles activity is increasing, leading to more opportunities for an unvaccinated person to become infected when traveling outside the U.S. or for an infected person visiting or living in the U.S. to transmit to a susceptible unvaccinated person. Groups of unvaccinated individuals provide opportunities for ongoing transmission and the resultant illness. These outcomes are preventable.

Guest Author2025-03-10T10:03:13-04:00March 10th, 2025|infectious diseases, Nursing, Public health|0 Comments

A Tumultuous Seven Weeks for Public Health in the United States

Editor’s note: AJN news director Karen Roush, PhD, RN, FNP, will be providing regular updates on AJN Off the Charts about the details and implications of rapid and potentially momentous changes being made by the Trump administration to the public health system in the United States.

It’s been a tumultuous seven weeks since President Trump’s inauguration. Changes in leadership and priorities have swept across every federal department, bringing uncertainty and disruption. Trump signed more than 70 executive orders (EOs) in his first month in office, including orders to erase diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts from federal agencies and the military (EO 14151); limit the rights of transgender people and declare that only two “sexes,” biological males and females, would be recognized by the federal government (EO 14168); end birthright citizenship (EO 14160); and further limit access to abortion (EO 14182). Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, has fired tens of thousands of federal employees, dismantled entire agencies, including USAID, and pulled grant funding from universities, nongovernmental organizations, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The appointment of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to head HHS.

Many of the […]

Guest Author2025-03-07T10:02:20-05:00March 7th, 2025|health care policy, infection control, infectious diseases, Nursing, Public health|0 Comments

In Times of Overwhelm as a Nurse and Citizen, Begin with One Intentional Act at a Time

Hui-Wen (Alina) Sato, MSN, MPH, RN, CCRN

With the recent devastation and loss around our local Los Angeles wildfires as well as our country’s political disarray, one of the most difficult things about trying to remain empathetic, engaged, and informed as an individual and a nurse has been a sense of utter overwhelmedness.

I think most nurses are both empathetic and action-oriented, traits which can be helpful—but also sometimes crippling when we see needs for help and advocacy everywhere and don’t know where to start. Any action feels like such a miniscule drop in the bucket.

I was carrying this emotional, mental, and spiritual heaviness into work with me a couple of days ago. I sat down to get report on my patient assignment. My patient was so sick, so complicated; she’d been teetering between life and death in recent days. Her parents had been on a roller coaster of the worst kind. ‘Two weeks into this hospitalization, are we still holding onto hope for recovery? Are we gathering relatives to say goodbye?’

I knew I was walking into a space that was very loaded for the parents. They had seen many nurses, respiratory therapists, and doctors come through their doors. For as long as they had been in our unit, […]

Hui-wen Sato, MSN, MPH, RN, CCRN2025-03-03T14:13:18-05:00March 3rd, 2025|family experience, Nursing, nursing perspective, nursing stories, pediatrics|0 Comments

The Work Environment and Nurses’ Well-Being: And Other Recommended Reading from AJN’s March Issue

This month’s cover honors Thelma M. Schorr, nursing trailblazer and past editor of AJN. Read a tribute to Schorr here.

The March issue of AJN is now live.

This month, you’ll find two Original Research articles:

“The Relationship Between Perceived Discrimination and Blood Pressure in Black Adults: A Narrative Review,” which explores the current literature on the relationship between perceived discrimination—everyday, lifetime, or both—and its impact on blood pressure among Black adults
“The Effects of the Physical and Professional Workplace Environments on the Well‑Being of Nursing Staff,” which examines the relationship between nurses in tertiary care hospital facilities and their professional practice environment; their self-perception of the physical hospital workplace environment; and outcome measures, including overall psychological stress, burnout, job satisfaction, and job stress (CE credit available)

In “Leaving Against Medical Advice: What’s a Nurse to Do?,” the authors explore the nurse’s role and ethical responsibilities when a patient chooses to leave the hospital AMA, highlighting steps nurses can take to prioritize the patient’s well-being and advocate for the patient’s interests.

“Improving Discharge Education and Outcomes for Patients with Heart Failure,” the fourth article in a series on applying implementation science (IS), describes how a nurse-led team at […]

Diane Szulecki, editor2025-02-24T09:40:43-05:00February 24th, 2025|Nursing|0 Comments

When Politics Overrides Nurse Workforce Diversity and Patient Care

(Guest opinion from a nurse practitioner and educator.)

Elizabeth Hanna, DNP, PMHNP, AGACNP

I am deeply concerned by recent legislative actions in my home state of Utah and a number of other states that undermine the foundational principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in publicly funded higher education. While I am fortunate to teach at an institution not subject to these restrictions, I am a proud alum of Utah’s state university system, which educates the vast majority of our nurses and nurse practitioners.

Utah’s “Equal Opportunity Initiatives” law (H.B. 261), which took effect on July 1, 2024, prohibits DEI practices, programs, policies, and initiatives in higher education and government employment. As a result, DEI offices and cultural centers have been dismantled at institutions such as the University of Utah, Southern Utah University, Utah State University, and Weber State University. Eliminating these initiatives threatens the quality and integrity of nursing education and undermines our commitment to culturally competent care.

The loss to patient care and workplace diversity.

It has been shown that more diverse and culturally competent nurses achieve better patient outcomes, including improved satisfaction, treatment adherence, and overall health. DEI initiatives help train nurses to recognize implicit biases and reduce health disparities. Furthermore, […]

Guest Author2025-02-19T11:57:03-05:00February 19th, 2025|Nursing|5 Comments

Measles: Amplifying the Public Trust in Nurses to Address the Outbreaks

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A Tumultuous Seven Weeks for Public Health in the United States

The appointment of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to head HHS.

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In Times of Overwhelm as a Nurse and Citizen, Begin with One Intentional Act at a Time

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The Work Environment and Nurses’ Well-Being: And Other Recommended Reading from AJN’s March Issue

The March issue of AJN is now live.

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When Politics Overrides Nurse Workforce Diversity and Patient Care

The loss to patient care and workplace diversity.

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