Food for Thought: Could You Recognize a Foodborne Illness?

An infant presents with constipation, poor feeding, sluggish pupils, diminished suck and gag reflexes. His mother also reports that his cries are unusually soft at night, making him hard to hear. These symptoms could lead clinicians in several directions, but one question about nutrition may provide an important clue: What is the infant eating? If the answer includes formula, a possible foodborne exposure may need to be considered.

The recent widespread Cyclospora outbreak demonstrated just how varied foodborne illnesses can be and raised questions about food safety. The outbreak, linked to contaminated iceberg lettuce, was declared over by the CDC on September 11, 2026, after 12,883 illnesses were reported across 21 states, resulting in at least 570 hospitalizations and two deaths. In addition to Cyclospora, outbreaks in the United States have involved organisms including Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), Listeria, and Clostridium botulinum, associated with foods ranging from produce and cheese to infant formula.

Why food outbreaks matter

Foodborne illness remains a significant public health concern. According to the CDC, there have been multiple outbreaks associated with food in the last few months. Symptoms can range from relatively mild gastrointestinal illness to severe complications requiring hospitalization. Young children, older adults, pregnant women, and individuals with weakened immune systems may be […]

2026-10-29T08:03:50-04:00October 29th, 2026|Nursing, Public health|0 Comments
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Recognizing Perimenopause: And Other November Issue Highlights

The November issue of AJN is now live.

Here are some highlights. Some articles are open access or temporarily free; others will require log-in for access.

On this month’s cover is Self-portrait with estrogen patch 1 (bathroom mirror selfie), a painting by Irish artist Éadaoin Glynn. See On the Cover for more about this work.

Typically starting in the late 30s to mid-40s and lasting several years, perimenopause—the hormonal transition preceding menopause—may cause insomnia, mood changes, and anxiety. This month’s CE article, “When a Psychiatric Diagnosis Is Actually Perimenopause,” outlines how to recognize perimenopause, conduct a hormonally informed assessment, and facilitate management, and also debunks common clinical misconceptions. (For more on this topic, see the editorial by AJN managing editor Amy Collins, “Recognizing and Managing Perimenopause.”)

According to 2003-2020 National Violent Death Reporting System data, U.S. nurses accounted for the greatest number of homicide decedents, as well as the highest homicide rate, among 10 health professions. In “Homicides of Nurses in the United States, 2003-2022: An Exploratory Study,” Carolyn M. Porta and colleagues describe the epidemiology of homicides of nurses, identify factors associated with such homicides, and propose new preventive strategies. This article is free to read.

The latest

2026-10-28T10:20:53-04:00October 26th, 2026|Nursing|0 Comments
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The Other Side of Labor and Delivery: Reflections on Burnout, Loss, and Compassion

As I sit in my taxi home watching the sunrise, I reflect on my shift from last night. This feels like my 100th “24hr day” since I started NP school, and I can feel the burnout creeping up on me.

I had a patient last night who would have made my new grad self sob, with tears streaming down her face. But instead, I stood there with no thoughts, no expression, and no remorse, watching a mother deliver her 34-week unalive daughter. I spoke to her as if I was speaking to any other fetal demise patient. I chose phrases that the modules taught me: “This isn’t your fault.” “I’m going to keep you and your baby in my prayers.” “You have support around you; use it. Do not be afraid to ask for help.” I wonder if she knew I was speaking from a script, if she really felt I meant those words.

I took her baby to the butterfly room, which is a nice way of saying the baby morgue. This baby had been dead for many days. I could tell by the skin sloughing off.

The mom told me she had decreased fetal movement for days, but she didn’t […]

2026-10-21T09:29:04-04:00October 20th, 2026|Nursing, nursing stories|2 Comments
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Unit Consciousness, the Unseen Hands of Nursing, and the Environment of Care

One afternoon, in the first few years of my practice in the operating room, a spine surgeon asked me to tidy up the room in the middle of a major case.

Some spine surgeries require two or more stages. In this case, after the implantation of vertebral spacers, the patient would be repositioned from a side-lying position to a prone position so that decompression and posterior hardware implantation could be completed. The transition requires a great deal of work. Drapes come down, dressings are applied, and an anesthetized patient must be carefully moved. Many hands are needed and much care must be taken.

All of this work takes place in the aftermath of surgery. Anyone who has seen an operating room at the end of a procedure understands the challenge. There may be spills and splashes, wires, dropped instruments, packaging, and equipment arranged for the demands of the first stage of the case.

When the second surgery was underway, the surgeon asked me, as the circulator in charge of the room, to get the OR put back together.

Becoming aware of the environment of care.

At the time, I did not fully understand why he cared about this. But he understood something that I did not.

In those early years, I […]

2026-10-06T09:38:36-04:00October 6th, 2026|Nursing, patient experience, patient safety|0 Comments
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Nurse Voting, New Grad Bullying: And Other October Issue Highlights

The October issue of AJN is now live.

Here are some highlights. Some articles are open access or temporarily free; others will require log-in for access.

On this month’s cover is Flag, a work by California-based fiber artists Deb Cashatt and Kris Sazaki. See On the Cover to learn how they painstakingly created this piece.

“In a political climate marked by uncertainty and profound challenges, the nursing voice remains one of the nation’s most trusted. Democracy is stronger when nurses vote,” writes AJN editor-in-chief Carl Kirton in this month’s editorial.

With Election Day approaching, voting is the focus of an open-access CE article, “Nurse Voting in Ohio Primary Elections: A Cohort Study.” Ruth Ludwick and colleagues examine the voting behavior of LPNs, RNs, and advanced practice registered nurses in three recent Ohio primaries, and how licensure type and age were related to voting. Their findings suggest that the nursing profession has unrealized political power.

An additional CE article, “Immune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura: Diagnosis and Management,” outlines the pathophysiology and clinical presentation of iTTP—a rare, life-threatening hematologic disorder—plus criteria for diagnosis and current treatment strategies.

The latest installment in our Strip Savvy ECG interpretation series, “The Impacts of Hypocalcemia on QT Interval Duration,” presents […]

2026-09-28T10:09:51-04:00September 28th, 2026|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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