AJN’s December issue is now available on our Web site. Here’s a selection of what not to miss.
To watch or not to watch? Long-term care facilities are challenged with providing care for a growing number of patients with dementia or intellectual disabilities. This month’s original research feature, “The Use of Surveillance Technology in Residential Facilities for People with Dementia or Intellectual Disabilities: A Study Among Nurses and Support Staff,” describes an ethnographic field study on the ethics, benefits, and drawbacks of using this technology in residential care facilities.
The obesity epidemic. Obesity rates are rising at an alarming rate in the United States. “The Obesity Epidemic, Part 1: Understanding the Origins,” the first article in a two-part series, outlines pathophysiologic, psychological, and social factors that influence weight control.
Smaller catheter size for transfusions? “Changing Blood Transfusion Policy and Practice,” an article in our Question of Practice column, describes how a small team of oncology nurses designed and implemented an evidence-based project to challenge the practice that a 20-gauge-or-larger catheter is required for the safe transfusion of blood in adults.
Health care worker safety. Two nurses attending a workshop in Lesotho were brutally murdered. In Iraq, health care was breaking down after medical professionals fled the country following a series of murders and abductions. These are just two examples of how providing health care in conflict zones has become increasingly dangerous. “Safeguarding Health Care Workers,” an article in our new From the ICN column, describes the International Council of Nurses initiative to protect nurses in these dangerous areas.
Other articles in this issue include an update on the successes of—and continuing attacks on—the Affordable Care Act in the past year, a historical article on penicillin, and New York Times opinion columnist Theresa Brown’s new installment of What I’m Reading.
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