About Betsy Todd, MPH, RN

Former clinical editor, American Journal of Nursing (AJN), and nurse epidemiologist

Medical-Surgical Nurses Modeling Resiliency

Resiliency is one way to address not only compassion fatigue, but also the change fatigue that can result from multiple new initiatives, our ever-increasing workload, and major reorganizations and mergers.

The 27th annual convention of the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses (AMSN), which took place in Orlando September 13–16, offered a wealth of cutting-edge educational presentations along with opportunities for networking and fun. On the second full day of the conference, Marisa Streelman, an AMSN Board member as well as a unit director at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, led a town hall meeting on the subject of workplace resiliency.

Streelman started the session off by defining resiliency as “capable of withstanding shock without permanent rupture.” She reminded us that the benefits of resiliency include “bounce-ability”—the ability to come back from stress stronger than before—and a connection to workmates that helps us to be truly present at work. Resiliency is one way to address not only compassion fatigue, but also the change fatigue that can result from multiple new initiatives, our ever-increasing workload, and major reorganizations and mergers.

Ways to build workplace resiliency.

Streelman pointed out several ways in which we can build workplace resiliency:

2018-10-03T14:43:20-04:00October 3rd, 2018|Nursing|1 Comment
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2017 Gold Report Refines COPD Treatment Algorithms

“As with many other chronic diseases, laboratory measures don’t always consistently reflect the extent of a person’s clinical symptoms or quality of life.”

Updated recommendations for managing COPD.

(click image to expand)

It’s nearly autumn, the time of year when we start to see exacerbations of chronic lung disease, including COPD. That’s why we’ve included an informative and readable COPD update in this month’s AJN.

Authors Amy O’Dell and colleagues discuss the latest recommendations from the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD). GOLD was launched 20 years ago in order to disseminate strategies for the prevention and management of this disease. The most recent GOLD report was released in 2017, with its recommendations further tweaked this year.

Treatment category based on spirometry plus symptoms and history.

One of the most exciting aspects of the 2017 recommendations is the way in which spirometry and a person’s clinical symptoms and history of exacerbations have been put together in order to determine a patient’s treatment category.

In the past, spirometric measurements have been key drivers of treatment. Yet as with many other chronic diseases, laboratory measures don’t always consistently reflect the extent of a person’s clinical symptoms or quality of life. Some people have “off the charts” lab readings […]

2018-09-21T08:52:41-04:00September 21st, 2018|Nursing|0 Comments
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Why Do Children With Visible Disabilities Make Us Uncomfortable?

What do you do when you see a child who has obvious visible disabilities? Do you say hello? Do you turn away?

In this month’s Viewpoint, “Afraid to Notice: On Responding to Children with Visible Disabilities,” pediatric nurse Lindsey van Gennep talks about her experiences working with medically fragile children in the community. She has learned a lot about kids with various abilities and their capacity to simply be “kids,” and also a lot about how people react to children who are different.

“While taking them on field trips or to doctor’s appointments, I’ve noticed looks of sadness and pity. I’ve noticed the mothers who, assuming the child is mine, look at me as if I must have abused substances during pregnancy—looks of disgust.”

Pretending not to see.

But van Gennep found that the reactions of people who didn’t even acknowledge the child she was with could be even more upsetting.

“Four women with children walked by. They didn’t stare at her, or at me. Instead, they quickly looked away, as if they had just seen a stranger naked. They looked away—out of embarrassment that they had looked at all. The passing children followed their mothers’ cues and snapped curious eyes away from my patient.”

2018-09-12T11:28:10-04:00September 12th, 2018|Nursing|0 Comments
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What Are We Breathing In?

Photo © Shutterstock.

For people who haven’t given much thought to “particulate matter” as a health hazard, the wildfires in the western United States remind us of how ambient smoke affects quality of life. Even communities not devastated by the fires—and often hundreds of miles away from them—have seen and experienced the effects of the smoke from these fires.

In this month’s AJN, authors Jessica Castner and Barbara Polivka explore particulate matter exposure and its effects on health in their article “Nursing Practice and Particulate Matter Exposure” (free until September 18). Using a detailed case history as an example, the authors offer guidance on nursing assessment and interventions to address particulate matter exposures. They also remind us how easy it is to encounter these pollutants.

“Common outdoor sources of particulate matter include industrial and traffic emissions, power plant emissions, wildfires, and wood stoves. Indoor sources include smoking, wood fires, cooking, and cooking fuels . . . mold; air fresheners and scented products; aerosolized cleaning and personal care products; and dust from carpeting, upholstery, and bedding.”

Air pollution: a host of associated ills.

While we often think of the respiratory problems that can result from this type of air pollution, Castner and Polivka point out […]

2018-09-04T09:14:24-04:00September 4th, 2018|environmental health, Nursing|1 Comment
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Suicide Among Nurses: Poorly Documented and Unacknowledged

Photo © Wavebreakmedia Ltd UC25/ Alamy Stock Photo

When we all worked eight-hour shifts, “my” shift was evenings. Most nights I reported off to the same night nurse, a woman about my age who was an excellent nurse and also simply a nice person to be with. One evening I came to work to learn that my new friend would not be at work for a while. She had tried to kill herself.

A surprising lack of suicide data for nurses.

Did you know that there are national data on the suicide rates of physicians, teachers, police officers, firefighters, and military personnel, but none pertaining to suicides of nurses? Or that many hospitals have long offered screening for suicide risk to medical staff and medical students, but not to nurses? The lead news story in this month’s AJN, “Suicide Among Nurses,” highlights these and other findings of a recent National Academy of Medicine discussion paper, “Nurse Suicide: Breaking the Silence.”

Many reasons for this silence.

Judy Davidson, a nurse scientist at the University of California San Diego and the lead author of this paper, points out that there are many reasons for the silence around this issue. She notes that suicide data […]

2018-08-20T09:32:01-04:00August 20th, 2018|Nursing|2 Comments
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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.
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