About Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor

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

A Black Nursing Professor’s Personal Calculus in Choosing a Birth Center

“I knew getting pregnant meant that regardless of my socioeconomic status or education, as a black woman I was more than three times as likely to die during labor or in the weeks afterward compared to my white counterparts.”

Recent news stories have drawn attention the dismaying medical experiences of black women during and after childbirth, with even celebrities like Serena Williams and others finding their concerns about potentially life-threatening symptoms going dangerously unheeded by nurses and physicians. The statistics about maternal death from pregnancy or childbirth complications among black women tell us that such stories aren’t isolated examples but part of a larger pattern.

Illustration by Annelisa Ochoa.

A thoughtful professor weighs her options.

All of which makes the personal story told by Sheria Robinson-Lane, an assistant professor of nursing at the University of Michigan, in this month’s Reflections essay (“Birthing by the Numbers“) particularly timely. And yes, nuanced. She knows the numbers and she knows the stories about communication issues experienced by black women with their providers. However, she’s also affiliated with a respected major medical center.

So when she gets pregnant with her second child at age 39, what’s her best course of action in deciding where to have her child? […]

2018-10-01T08:20:40-04:00October 1st, 2018|Nursing, nursing perspective, patient experience|0 Comments
Read More

Quality of Life? Whatever the Patient Believes It Is

Illustration by Eric Collins / ecol-art.com

“What kind of life is that? That’s not how I would want to live.”

In AJN‘s September Reflections essay, “His Wonderful Life,” nurse Elizabeth Buckley interrogates her own judgmental response to a patient with a bluff, abrasive personality (he calls her ‘Nurse Ratchet during their first encounter) who requires nearly nonstop care to stay alive.

The patient has little hope of a meaningful recovery even if he survives the current hospitalization. The reader is surprised when, after a first grueling night of touch-and-go care, the author decides to take him on as her primary patient because she thinks it might be “a good learning opportunity.” (“I texted my friend who worked the day shift to sign me up; she replied that I was crazy.”)

A good life is in the eye of the beholder.

‘Philip,’ obese and with progressive dyspnea and multiple comorbidities, is sure he’ll soon be able to return to his bedbound existence at home watching old movies and chatting on Facebook; the physicians and other nurses are less hopeful. Gradually, over the course of five nights, the author’s respect and affection for the patient grows. He loves his life, however narrow it may seem to an outside observer.

2018-09-19T08:49:44-04:00September 19th, 2018|Nursing, patient experience, Patients, personal health practices|1 Comment
Read More

For One Nurse, the Heroin Crisis Hits Too Close to Home

Illustration by Gingermoth.

The abundance of cheap, potent street drugs like heroin and fentanyl continue to cause record overdose numbers. This ongoing crisis struck close to home for the nurse who’s the author of our August Reflections essay. When her nephew ended up in the hospital, she found herself, as a family member, “on the wrong side of” the situation:

“This happened to other people’s families, not mine. I was supposed to be reading the monitors and titrating the drips. I was supposed to be taking care of the patient.”

With the support of nurses.

The author, in her dual role as nurse and sister of the young man’s father, must at times walk a fine line between these roles. And so she’s grateful for the help of the nurses whose presence sees the author’s family through what can’t be seen through. They quietly minister to their patient and those most concerned with his fate. Their sensitivity and professionalism offer them a profound support. […]

2018-08-27T07:33:23-04:00August 27th, 2018|Nursing|0 Comments
Read More

Distracted Nursing: On Personal Cell Phone Use at Work

A new societal norm.

Kathleen Bartholomew

Most of us have seen the cars on the highway that suddenly slow down in the passing lane, blocking other cars while weaving dangerously across the dividing lines between lanes. We know the signs of distracted driving well enough by now. It resembles drunk driving. Or we’ve had to dodge the people staring down at their cell phones as they blindly approach us on the sidewalk.

Divided attention in the nursing workplace.

The examples of distraction because of cell phone use are endless; in fact, especially in certain places and age groups, this form of preoccupation has become the norm. The behavior carries over into many workplaces, and nursing is not exempt. The following excerpt is from this month’s Viewpoint essay by nurse educator and consultant Kathleen Bartholomew, “Not So Smart: Cell Phone Use Hurts Our Patients and Profession.”

It is 6:45 in the morning, and as I pass a patient in the ED, I see a nursing assistant watching a movie on her phone. She is supposed to be monitoring the 1:1 suicide risk, yet she appears so intrigued with the movie that I wonder if the patient is safe—or perhaps wants to talk.

Earlier that same day, a nurse tells me a story of calling […]

2018-06-19T11:40:33-04:00June 19th, 2018|Nursing|7 Comments
Read More

As a Long-Predicted Nursing Shortage Gets Real, Staffing and Retention Issues Get Urgent

Is the nursing shortage finally here?

In her June issue editorial, AJN editor-in-chief Shawn Kennedy notes that in her recent visit to the annual National Student Nurses’ Association (NSNA) conference, many of the senior students she spoke with already had jobs lined up.

She surveys some recent indicators pointing to the possible arrival at last of a long-predicted nursing shortage, and some of the possible implications this is having or may have in the coming years for patient care and the health of organizations. For example:

“A survey of 233 chief nursing officers conducted last July conducted last July by national staffing company AMN Healthcare found that 72% said their shortages were moderate to severe, and most expected shortages to worsen over the next five years. They also acknowledged that the shortage was having a negative effect on patient care, patient satisfaction, and staff morale.”

Bonuses for new hires.

She notes that, with hospitals in some regions paying signing bonuses to new nurses, the question of staff retention and development remains the elephant in the room.

The class of 2018, it seems, is entering a job seeker’s market. . . . Organizations that can invest in new nurses with programs that provide support and training will have a leg up in recruitment. But […]

2018-06-04T12:21:33-04:00June 4th, 2018|Nursing|2 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