AJN0416.Cover.Online

On this month’s cover is a 1924 portrait of the Grace Hospital School of Nursing basketball team in Detroit. Most nursing schools had basketball teams in their early days—as far back as the 1920s. This photo of the Grace Hospital team was featured in the September 1924 issue of AJN in an article on basketball in Detroit nursing schools.

Understanding the importance of maintaining physical well-being is a fundamental aspect of nursing. For a variety of reasons, including competing priorities and the demands of caring for others, nurses may not practice sufficient self-care. To read a study that analyzed how today’s RNs fare in terms of health-promoting behaviors like physical activity, stress management, and more, see “Original Research: An Investigation into the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Practices of RNs.” While “physical activity and stress management scores were low for the entire group of RNs,” there were some notable differences between age groups of nurses.

Some other articles of note in the April issue:

CE Feature: Cardiotoxicity and Breast Cancer as Late Effects of Pediatric and Adolescent Hodgkin Lymphoma Treatment.” This second article in a series on cancer survivorship care from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center reviews the late adverse effects associated with the management of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). Nurses’ familiarity with and attention to the late effects of the chemotherapy and radiation therapy used to treat HL, which include breast cancer as well as cardiotoxicity and its sequelae, are essential in helping these patients maintain their overall health.

Diabetes Under Control: Blood Glucose Meters in ICUs.” As the number of patients with diabetes in the hospital setting has continued to rise, the use of point-of-care blood glucose meters (POC BGMs) has become increasingly vital. Recently, the practice of using POC BGMs in hospitals has come under threat after new regulatory requirements on the meters’ intended use were proposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This article details the controversies surrounding restrictions on the off-label use of POC BGMs in critically ill, hospitalized patients.

Special Feature: Journey of Excellence: Implementing a Shared Decision-Making Model.” Research has shown that nurses who participate in shared decision making (SDM) have more control over their practice and greater job satisfaction, and hospitals that have instituted SDM have lower rates of nurse turnover and better patient outcomes. This article describes the successful implementation of a shared decision-making structure at one hospital and discusses the lessons learned from the project.

There’s much more in our April issue, including a Policy and Politics article comparing the two Democratic presidential candidates’ health care plans, an Emerging Infections update on Zika virus, and a Teaching for Practice article offering strategies for mentoring in the clinical setting, so click here to browse the table of contents and explore the issue on our Web site.