About Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor

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

Nurses Under Fire: Cleared in Texas, Embattled in California

By Shawn Kennedy, interim editor-in-chief

By now you’ve probably heard that last Thursday Anne Mitchell, the Texas nurse who found herself fired from her job and on trial after reporting a physician for what she felt was poor medical practice (see our report in the October 2009 issue) was found not guilty (her colleague, Vicki Galle, had her case dismissed prior to trial). It only took the jury about an hour to exonerate Mitchell of criminal charges and uphold her right to advocate for patients. (Day-by-day reports from the trial were made available on the Texas Nurses Association  (TNA) Web site.)

The case garnered national attention—at its core was a nurse’s right (duty, really) to safeguard patients in her or his care. It seemed a no-brainer, and almost incredible that the case even came to trial. Last Friday, I spoke with TNA president Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, who agreed, saying she was surprised the case went forward, especially after the state medical board agreed that what the nurses did was appropriate. Sportsman said, “This is the role of nurses—it’s required that we report what we see to safeguard patients. This nurse was just doing her job, what she was supposed to do.”

Like nurses everywhere, Sportsman was “delighted and ecstatic” about the verdict. Sportsman noted a guilty verdict would have discouraged nurses and others from coming forward about poor care out of fear of losing their jobs and facing prosecution.  Perhaps […]

2016-11-21T13:19:19-05:00February 16th, 2010|Nursing|3 Comments
Read More

The Mindfulness Antidote to V-Day

By Christine Moffa, MS, RN, AJN clinical editor

by Foton28/via FlickrI can’t resist acknowledging that dreaded day that’s coming up this weekend. Whether you are a believer in Valentine’s Day or a skeptic who thinks it was created by greeting card companies and florists, you can’t escape it. There are commercials all over TV, signs in every drug store, and now a movie with it in the title (which I had planned on seeing, until I read some reviews). My personal feeling has been that it makes single people feel lonely and pathetic and people in relationships disappointed with the ones they have. Not to mention that it’s impossible to get a good meal at a decent restaurant. A friend of mine who’s a social worker told me she’s thankful it falls on a weekend so she will be spared dealing with back-to-back appointments of heartbroken clients. 

This is the perfect time to practice my latest self-help discovery: mindful self-compassion. Christopher K. Germer, author of The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion: Freeing Yourself from Destructive Thoughts and Emotions (pardon the shameless product plug; neither I nor AJN has been paid off in any way!), posted an exercise on his blog during the holidays this past December that I think is a good fit for getting through this weekend (if you or someone you know finds it difficult). He suggests:

If you feel lonely […], see if you can stop and name the experience (“I’m […]

2016-11-21T13:19:21-05:00February 12th, 2010|Nursing|4 Comments
Read More

DSM-V Draft Ready for Public Comment–What’s It To Nurses?

As many of you know, a draft of the proposed DSM-5 is just out and it’s bound to stir plenty of comment and controversy. First, I’ve got to congratulate the DSM-5 crafters for making the draft public and for seeking public comment. That’s right: the APA wants to hear from members of the public, not just medical professionals. So let them know what you think.

Meanwhile, let me offer some preliminary comments:

1. Internet addiction isn’t included, which is fine by me and likely will save the APA much sniggering and criticism.

2. Bipolar disorder type 3 or subthreshold bipolar disorder is not included either and that is definitely a victory for critics like me who’ve long held that the softening of mood disorders–such as with bipolar disorder type 2–has led to millions of Americans being overdiagnosed and overmedicated.

Read more of this post at Furious Seasons, a thoughtful blog belonging to a health care journalist who has long suffered from mental illness (I can’t seem to link directly to the specific post, but at least for today it’s still at the top of the blog’s landing page).

We draw your attention to his observations because we’re interested in how nurses—perhaps especially psych nurses, but all nurses, or, for that matter, nurses who are patients—may be reacting to the release for public comment of a draft of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Your thoughts are always welcome here; we also hope to cover this in more detail in the journal […]

2016-11-21T13:19:23-05:00February 12th, 2010|Patients|0 Comments
Read More

Weathering the Storm in PR

By Shawn Kennedy, AJN interim editor-in-chief

As I’m writing this, I’m lucky enough to be in Puerto Rico, out of the record-setting snow storm that just hit the Northeast (and further south as well). But I’m still following the news of the storm and “real life” (sun and sand in February is so not real life) and trying to keep up with work e-mail a bit so it won’t overwhelm me when I get home (it will anyway).

Which brings me to my point: how difficult it is to shake off real life today and just relax. As I’m sitting here in the hotel lobby using the Internet connection, I see at least a dozen other people on laptops and another dozen or so on cell phones. As I look out the large windows to the palm trees and blue sky, I realize there is something definitely wrong with the picture—I’m not out there stocking up on Vitamin D. I’d better go—for health reasons, you understand.

Bookmark and Share

2016-11-21T13:19:25-05:00February 11th, 2010|Nursing|2 Comments
Read More

Loud and Clear: A Nurse Discovers the Hazards of Learning Spanish By Audio

By Alice Facente, MSN, RN

I was determined to learn to speak Spanish. To deliver truly competent nursing care to my many Spanish-speaking patients, I felt compelled to gain a working knowledge of the Spanish language. I found a four-week course offered at the local community college, entitled “Spanish for the Medical Professional.” Perfect! I enrolled and eagerly went to the first class. My five classmates and I immediately started learning about the parts of the body, numbers, dates, how to ask and tell your address, and how to tell time. It was surprising how much we learned in that first three-hour class.

To reinforce what we had learned the professor instructed us to purchase a pocket medical Spanish guide, as well as the corresponding audio CD, which could be played at home or in the car. I wanted to get started quickly. On the way home from class I dutifully put the CD in my car tape player and repeated the Spanish translation after the English narration.

“Good morning: Buenos días.”

“I am the nurse: Soy la enfermera.”

So far, so good. At this rate, I began to think, I would be fluent in a short time. I listened to the CD every chance I got.

“Do you have a headache? Le duele a usted la cabeza?”

A few days later, I gave a gracious, elderly neighbor a ride home from the grocery store. As she slowly buckled herself in, I turned the key in the ignition. Immediately, the CD asked in loud, clear English, “Does […]

2016-11-21T13:19:30-05:00February 10th, 2010|Nursing|1 Comment
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