Thousands of Critical Care Nurses, a Helicopter, and More! AACN’s National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition

By Shawn Kennedy, AJN interim editor-in-chief

 

I’m writing to you this morning from Washington, DC, where I’m attending the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) 2010 National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition (known simply as “the NTI”). I’m probably miscounting, but I think this might be my 15th visit to the NTI. I first attended when I was an ED staff nurse at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. I marveled at the hundreds of nurses who attended from all across the country. It was energizing and inspiring and overwhelming, and I learned a lot.

Now, it’s not just hundreds but thousands of nurses who attend the NTI, and they come not only from states across this country but also from around the globe. It’s still energizing, and there’s no doubt I can still learn a lot. Throngs of nurses have crowded the sessions, so much so that it’s hard to remember there’s a nursing shortage; but critical care nurses are still much in demand, and representatives from many hospitals—as well as from all branches of the military—are manning recruitment booths. The exhibit hall is still overwhelming: this year there are more than 500 exhibitors and the exhibits include a Life Flight helicopter, a couple of full-size buses equipped as classrooms or EDs, and a fully-equipped military emergency treatment tent.

I’ve attended some very good sessions and a couple of clunkers—a better ratio than I’ve found […]

2016-11-21T13:17:39-05:00May 19th, 2010|Nursing|1 Comment
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Who You Calling ‘Just a Nurse’?

It makes my blood boil when I hear a nurse say, “I’m just a nurse.” Sure, I’ve heard some nurses say, “I’m a nurse,” and I’ve heard many qualify their position by specifying, “I’m a critical care nurse” or “I’m a dialysis nurse.” But all too often, especially when asked whether they work in a specialty area, I hear nurses say apologetically, “No, I’m just a regular nurse,” or “I’m just a floor nurse.”

So says AJN‘s interim editor-in-chief Shawn Kennedy in her May editorial. Now here at AJN we’d like to reassure you that we don’t believe that anyone’s blood can actually boil. THAT is not an evidence-based statement. But Shawn’s hyperbole is meant to drive home a point: this is a topic that should matter to nurses, whatever their education level or exact job description.

We hope you’ll take a moment to read Shawn’s editorial in full and then let us know here what you think.

Longish sidebar: AJN may be a little uptight and old-fashioned about checking the facts we publish and making sure our editors and copyeditors fix unclear or inaccurate or simply awkward language, structure, and use of sources; ferret out conflicts of interest in our writers; and generally keep the journal a place you know you can trust in a world of shifting sources driven by suspect motivations. But here on our more informal blog, we also really really like (and do not edit!) reader comments, even very casual comments punched out on a tiny smartphone keypad.

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2016-11-21T13:17:41-05:00May 17th, 2010|career, nursing perspective|0 Comments
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Fetal Pigs and Popcorn: ‘Lessons’ in May’s ‘Art of Nursing’

By Sylvia Foley, AJN senior editor

To be frank, the opening scenario in Bernadette Geyer’s poem “Lessons,” featured in this month’s Art of Nursing department, made me uneasy when I first read it—and yet I was intrigued. In the poem, “Mom” has fallen asleep over a medical textbook, and her three daughters “watch as Dad / tosses popcorn, aimed for her slack mouth.” What’s going on here? The father’s action seems mocking, almost cruel.

But as good poems will, “Lessons” reveals more with each reading. The mother’s textbook is full of lurid photographs, including those of “a dissected fetal pig.” The young daughters find their own changing bodies “so embarrassing.” The father’s popcorn tossing makes his daughters giggle, and those garish photos of death recede just a little. Maybe that’s not a bad thing.  Read the poem—it’s free online (please click through to the PDF version)—and sit with it for a bit, see what you think. Then tell us in the comments!

Bernadette Geyer, a writer and freelance editor living in the Washington, DC, area,  received a 2010 Strauss Fellowship from the Arts Council of Fairfax County, Virginia.  Links to several of her poems can be found on her Web site.  She also blogs here about writing, motherhood, and life in “the exiles of suburbia.”

If you’re a poet or a visual artist, we hope you’ll consider submitting your work to us for consideration. Read this blog […]

2016-11-21T13:17:42-05:00May 14th, 2010|Nursing|3 Comments
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Should Nurses Be Better Prepared to Meet Patients’ Spiritual Needs?

[A] survey of over 4,000 nurses found that only a small minority (5%) felt that they could always meet the spiritual needs of patients, and the vast majority (80%) felt that spirituality should be covered in nurse education as a core aspect of nursing.

The most important spiritual need identified by nurses was having respect for privacy, dignity and religious and cultural beliefs (94%). Spending time with patients giving support and reassurance especially in a time of need (90%) and showing kindness, concern and cheerfulness when giving care (83%) were also key concerns.

The above excerpt is from an article in Health News Today about a survey conducted among nurses in the UK. And here’s one more excerpt, a direct quote from a nurse who took part in the survey:

“I am a Christian. However, I do not believe it is appropriate for me to impose my beliefs on others while they are in a vulnerable position. What I do believe is that I support them in the particular spiritual needs during that time – whether they be Christian, Muslim, Atheist, whatever. It is their right to be treated as a whole, unique person and it is our duty, as nurses, to treat all our patients holistically, for the person they are and the beliefs that they hold. Physical care has to be tailored to each individual and so should spiritual care.”

But why bother? After all, who has time? Well, spirituality may affect outcomes. A 2004 article published in the Journal of Family Practice reviewed […]

2016-11-21T13:17:44-05:00May 13th, 2010|nursing perspective|3 Comments
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New Nurse Keeps Grandma’s Gutsy Resolve, Varied Career in Sights

By Cara Gewolb, BSN. Cara lives in New York City and in January completed an accelerated 15-month BSN program at New York University College of Nursing for those with previous bachelor’s degrees. This longer-than-usual post was passed along to us by Barbara Glickstein, a producer and host of Healthstyles radio show, where Cara recently talked about her grandmother’s career as a public health nurse. We post it today in honor of Nurses’ Week—and also in honor of all the nurses who have recently graduated and are looking for work in a tight market.

My grandmother Frances Reichman Lubin had been the only nurse in her family until I received a BSN in January. As a new nurse I’m a bit unsure of myself, but I’m looking for work and excited to enter my profession. While I’m interested in becoming an ER or ICU nurse, my grandmother’s diverse career reminds me to stay open to opportunity. Her career extended from the 1940s to 1970s and encompassed stints as an army nurse, public health nurse, ICU nurse, teacher, and administrator, as well as time off to raise children and further her nursing education. I keep her example as a funny, gutsy woman who always kept her sense of purpose in my sights as I go forward. She died […]

2016-11-21T13:17:45-05:00May 12th, 2010|career, narratives, Nursing|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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