Top Recent Reader Comments

We like your comments. In fact, we need them. We’re grateful when you express an opinion, raise a question, respond to each other. Below we’ve collected some recent comments that we particularly appreciated. We have a constantly growing number of readers or visitors. We’re happy about this–but we hope that more of you will go beyond reading and take a moment to let us know your responses. (About your privacy: When you comment, you have to give a valid e-mail address to the system. However, this e-mail address will not be published unless you deliberately insert it into the body of the comment. When you sign your comment, you can use your full name or initials or whatever else you’d like to identify yourself to other readers.  It’s entirely up to you!)

About Nurses Write, Right?:

“If 1 percent of the three million nurses in the USA would write about what they do, we could take over health care.”
–Dr. Teena McGuinness

About Saving SimBaby-Teaching Nurses to Speak Up, a post about using simulation technology for training nurses:

“I used to dread simulation situations (like ACLS years ago when it was much more stressful). Now I think they are the best way to learn and to teach some situations. Reproducing a certain degree of anxiety helps young nurses, and more experienced nurses, learn how to keep anxiety and stress from becoming fear. Being forced to repetitively face those anxieties diminishes the likelihood that a nurse will be overwhelmed by them in a […]

2016-11-21T13:21:01-05:00November 19th, 2009|nursing perspective|1 Comment
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Mammography Screening: Change Isn’t Easy

Exactly what is the evidence supporting annual mammography screening and breast self-examination for women over the age of 40? Napoli pointed out that the available evidence from large international studies didn’t support the belief that early detection of breast cancer actually resulted in lower mortality rates and that the high number of false positive tests resulted in unnecessary anxiety and treatment. At the time, there was even some evidence that premenopausal women who are diagnosed with breast cancer through mammography may actually die earlier than women who are not screened.

2016-11-21T13:21:03-05:00November 17th, 2009|health care policy|1 Comment
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What Do Medical Researchers and Legislators Have in Common? Conflict of Interest, for One

By Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN, AJN interim editor-in-chief

LiebermanProtestIn a not-so-old blog post I did last month, I reported on a conference I attended in Vancouver.  There, editors from JAMA presented a study revealing that ghostwriting was a major problem for the leading medical journals. Articles were being drafted by writers other than the researchers. In some cases, the writers didn’t have access to all the data, which meant that analyses, conclusions, and—in some cases—recommendations for treatment were based on incomplete or misinterpreted findings.  As described in a New York Times article on the issue, medical product and pharmaceutical companies have much to gain if the safety and efficacy of their products are reported in a positive light.

Conflict of interest is a major concern whenever someone who stands to personally benefit can influence a decision. The National Institutes of Health, which is the leading medical and health research agency in this country, has imposed strict rules for employees limiting consulting and speaking fees involving outside companies and institutions that may have a stake in research outcomes. Most government agencies, research or not, impose rules to avoid conflicts of interest.

Last week, NBC News reported that protestors staged a sit-in at the Hartford, Connecticut, offices of Senator Joe Lieberman, demanding that he stop taking campaign contributions from insurance companies. 

2016-11-21T13:21:04-05:00November 16th, 2009|Ethics, health care policy|0 Comments
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FDA Commissioner’s Letter to Health Care Professionals About H1N1 Vaccine Safety

fluIMAGEBelow we reproduce a letter from Margaret Hamburg, Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to all U.S. health care professionals. It explains why the FDA (and most experts) believe the current H1N1 vaccine is as safe as any of the seasonal flu vaccines that are produced using the same process. Many nurses remain reluctant to get the vaccine, as are many patients. Some we’ve heard from have changed their minds as they’ve seen the sudden and devastating effects of this virus on patients in their hospitals. We hope this letter will provide some context for thinking about the current H1N1 vaccine, and for addressing the concerns of patients.

Dear Healthcare Professional,

I am writing first to thank you for your extraordinary efforts during the 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak. 

As this new infectious disease sweeps through communities across the country, you must juggle your usual patient care responsibilities with a special role in influenza response.  Delays in vaccine delivery and the persistence of myths about vaccination have not made your job any easier.  Thank you for rising to this public health challenge.

I am also writing to provide information that can be helpful as you talk to patients about the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccines — the best tools we have to prevent severe illness and death caused by the virus. 

As the Commissioner […]

2016-11-21T13:21:06-05:00November 13th, 2009|Nursing|1 Comment
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Overcoming Barriers to Kidney Transplantation

By Genevieve Coorey, BSN, MA(Ed.). Coorey is the quality assurance and program director at the National Kidney Foundation and was the lead author of “Barriers to Preemptive Kidney Transplantation,” published in the November issue of AJN.

 

DadTransplantTattoo

Talk with any nursing colleague who cares for people with a chronic, complex disease and you will hear about the resilience and patience with which they accept—even triumph over—the effects of their illness.  

Cheryl learned nine years ago that her kidneys were failing. “At one point, I was so weak from anemia and malnutrition I could barely lift a dinner plate. Walking through a grocery store was a struggle. I used a wheelchair briefly because my legs were so filled with fluid. My husband . . . had to carry me at times, because I was too weak to walk.” 

A long-time school friend gave Cheryl one of his kidneys. She took up biking when her recovery allowed and the next summer she rode a 69-mile segment of a huge annual bike ride across Iowa; two years later she rode all 500 miles. Now Cheryl is a seven-time gold medal winner at three separate National Kidney Foundation U.S. Transplant Games events and a two-time bronze medal winner at the World Transplant Games. Extraordinary.

2016-11-21T13:21:07-05:00November 12th, 2009|nursing research|5 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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