About Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor

Senior editor, American Journal of Nursing; editor of AJN Off the Charts.

Ketamine as a Therapeutic Option, AI and Nurse Staffing, Naloxone Training, and Other March Issue Highlights

The March issue of AJN is now live.

Here are some highlights. Some articles are open access or temporarily free; others will require log-in for access.

In this month’s editorial, “A Turning Point in Psychiatry,” AJN‘s editor-in-chief Carl Kirton discusses key aspects of the current mental health crisis and explores whether a paradigm shift to more rapid treatment with drugs like ketamine and MDMA may be in sight for at least some percentage of those in need (the editorial is always free). Writes Kirton:

“The promise of ketamine therapy is not that it will ‘replace’ everything else, but that it may signal a broader turning point: psychiatry moving beyond slow-onset, monoamine-focused treatments toward interventions that target rapid symptom relief.”

In addition, the CE article (CE articles are free) in the March issue reviews current evidence on ketamine as a mental health treatment. Discussing the use of ketamine for treatment-resistant depression, the authors write:

This article provides “a foundation of clinical information that nurses should understand as they advise patients who are receiving or curious about ketamine” and discusses “the regulatory, ethical, and nursing implications of using ketamine in the treatment of mental health disorders.”

The Viewpoint in this issue, “

2026-02-24T09:19:20-05:00February 24th, 2026|Nursing, Nursing education, nursing research, Quality improvement|0 Comments
Read More

Clarifying the DNP Role, Assessing Discharge Readiness: Highlights in our February Issue

The February issue of AJN is now live. Here are some highlights.

In this issue, a review article (CE credit available), “Nurses in the Fight to End Food Insecurity: An Integrative Review,” synthesizes and analyzes findings of nurse-involved studies that address food insecurity, identifying key interventions and outcomes across diverse health care and community settings.

Notably, there are a number of open access articles in this issue:

“Assessing Discharge Readiness and Influencing Factors Among Patients with Aortic Dissection: A Cross-Sectional Study” is an original research (and open access) article. The authors note that this study “revealed that patients with aortic dissection generally had discharge readiness scores at the lower end of the moderate range, indicating the need for improvement. It’s imperative that health care providers emphasize patient education prior to discharge and develop and implement personalized discharge plans.”

The second open access original research article in our February issue is “An Examination of Factors Affecting Bowel Preparation for Colonoscopy: A Meta-Analysis.” According to the authors, “Health care providers, including nurses, should consider these determinants of bowel preparation effectiveness and implement appropriate interventions in a timely manner to enhance patient education and care.”

Our […]

2026-01-22T15:16:34-05:00January 22nd, 2026|Nursing, Nursing education, nursing research, Quality improvement|0 Comments
Read More

AJN’s 2025 Book of the Year Awards and Other Highlights of the January Issue

The January issue of AJN is now live.

AJN’s 2025 Book of the Year Awards can be found in the the current issue. Browse judges’ choices in a wide variety of categories.

On this month’s cover is Eyes of Gold 2 [Children of The Sun With Moon Crescent Blood], a work by artist Rizzy Akanji, creative director of Akanji Studio—a London-based art and storytelling house that “uses visual art, poetry, and creative education to raise awareness for sickle cell disorder and to transform lived experiences of pain into expressions of power and beauty.”

Below are articles from the January issue we’d like to draw your attention to:

A review article (CE credit available), “Sickle Cell Disease: Treatment Options of the Past, Present, and Future,” gives an up-to-date overview of what every nurse will want to know about this challenging and painful condition.

“Exploring Retention Among Army Nurses: A Qualitative Study” is an open access original research article based on the authors’ interviews with active-duty Army nurses. It identifies two key priorities that emerged from interviews and subsequent analysis as to why nurses choose to stay.

The second original research article in our January issue is […]

2025-12-30T10:00:09-05:00December 30th, 2025|Nursing|0 Comments
Read More

The Rise of Anti-Intellectualism, Snapshot of Nursing in Gaza, Video Monitoring to Reduce Falls: December Issue Recommended Reading

The December issue of AJN is now live.

Some articles in this issue will be open access or free to access for a set period; others will require log-in or subscription. Below are some articles of note we’d like to draw your attention to.

This issue has two original research articles. The first is of these is an observational cohort study looking at implementation of a continuous video monitoring program to decrease falls in a long-term acute care hospital setting. This article is open access.

The second original research article in our December issue is “Investigating the Relationships Among Nurses’ Stress, Sleep Quality, and Mental Health, and the Mediating Role of Coping Strategies and Social Support: A Cross-Sectional Study.” According to the authors, “This study highlights strong associations between stress, sleep quality, anxiety, and depressive symptoms, with coping strategies and social support as potential mediators.”

An integrative review (currently free to read) looks at what we currently know (and don’t know but need to study) about best practices for implementing hospital-based virtual nursing.

Our editorial by editor-in-chief Carl Kirton indulges a little word play in its title, “The Rise of AI.” But the […]

2025-11-20T11:34:48-05:00November 20th, 2025|digital health, Nursing, nursing research, Public health, Technology|0 Comments
Read More

In AJN’s July Issue, a Guest Editorial by Angelina Jolie and Other Essential Reading

The July issue of AJN is now live.

Among the highlights is a guest editorial by Angelina Jolie, “Addressing Health Inequities in Survivors of Domestic Violence,” which explains the importance of bruise detection technologies for patients with varying skin tones. Referencing her daughter, who is from Ethiopia, she writes:

“Even as my family has access to high-quality medical care, simple diagnoses are missed because of race and continued prioritization of white skin in medicine.”

On this topic in the same issue, see the Nurse Innovators column, “Improving Bruise Detection in Patients with Dark Skin Tone.”

A useful read about getting patients up and moving again after surgery is a CE feature article, “Overcoming Movement-Evoked Pain to Facilitate Postoperative Recovery.” which emphasizes a multifaceted approach that includes timely evaluation and comprehensive care planning.

“Improving Medication Safety in the ICU” is about a nurse-led initiative to reduce medication errors by increasing adherence to safety protocols, including compliance with barcode scanning before medication administration.

A Viewpoint addresses a possible solution to the thorny problem of how a hospital and its nurses handle patient access to medical cannabis.

See also the extensive health care news sections, the Journal […]

2023-06-26T10:17:17-04:00June 26th, 2023|Nursing|0 Comments
Read More

Comment ground rules

1. Please be respectful.
2. We moderate all comments.

Content disclaimer

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.
Go to Top