AJN’s March issue is now available on our Web site. Here’s a selection of what not to miss.
Recent surveys show that women continue to underestimate their true risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). This prompted the American Heart Association (AHA) to update its guidelines for preventing CVD in women. To make sure you’re up to date on the latest information, read “Update on Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Women.”
This article is open access and can earn you 2.3 continuing education (CE) credits. (The cover image to the right, a lithograph from 1830, is called A Map of the Open Country of a Woman’s Heart. For more about it, read this month’s “On the Cover.”)
Although hand hygiene is considered to be the most effective way of preventing health care–associated infections, not all health care workers adhere to the guidelines. The month’s original research article presents findings from an interventional study that showed how the introduction of gel sanitizer and informational posters improved hand hygiene at two outpatient clinics. This article is open access and can earn you 2.1 CE credits. A podcast with the author is available on our Web site, and we also feature a 1932 article on hand hygiene in our department, From the AJN Archives.
Although nurses may think of sexuality as more likely to preoccupy the young, our Sexually Speaking article, “Sexuality in Nursing Care Facilities,” points out that nursing home residents have the right to sexual expression and calls for more education on the subject for nurses and families. Listen to a podcast with the author on our Web site.
It’s been more than two years since the Institute of Medicine’s Future of Nursing report. “The Campaign for Action: An Update” discusses progress to date on efforts to remove barriers preventing advanced practice RNs from practicing to the full extent of their training.
Want to know more about a simple, fast tool that can help nurses assess a patient’s risk of falling? Check out “The Timed Up and Go Test” to learn more. And if you want to see the test in action, watch this video of the author performing it on a patient.
For our tech-savvy nurses, read this month’s iNurse department, which describes the step-by-step process that one hospital went through to create an online journal club using WordPress.com, a free and relatively easy-to-use blogging platform.
There is plenty more in this issue, so stop by and have a look. Tell us what you think on Facebook, or here on our blog.
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