Corinne McSpedon, AJN senior editor

Making Sense of the Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines Controversy

“In a time of uncertainty about breast cancer screening, the role of the nurse in communicating information to patients about screening’s health risks and benefits is more important than ever.”

Few diagnostic rituals loom as large—or generate as much anxiety—as an upcoming mammogram appointment. Until relatively recently, most of the concern surrounding the procedure was about what it might reveal. What most women older than age 40 haven’t generally questioned since routine screening began in the 1980s was whether they should have a mammogram each year.

Confusion for patients and providers.

Sandra Brennan, director of radiology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Westchester, West Harrison, New York, reads mammogram results with a technician. Photo courtesy Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Graphics Team.

Yet many women, particularly those in their 40s, are now struggling with this very issue. Recent changes in the breast cancer screening guidelines of major organizations have moved away from a population-based approach to screening, which has historically begun at age 40 and been repeated annually for most women.

Based on data from clinical research and cancer registries, the current recommendations reflect an […]

Corinne McSpedon, senior editor2018-07-09T07:57:28-04:00July 9th, 2018|Nursing|0 Comments

Earth Day 2018: Making the Connection Between Environmental and Human Health

Trafalgar Square during the Great London Smog of 1952. Photo © TopFoto / The Image Works.

This Sunday is Earth Day, an annual event started by a bipartisan group of citizens and congressional representatives in 1970 to highlight the need for a healthier environment and the importance of legislative protections.

Along the mighty Hudson—beautiful, but still contaminated

Growing up just north of New York City, along one of the most beautiful but contaminated sections of the Hudson River, I’ve seen up close the effects of industrial pollution before environmental protections were put in place. In addition to producing electrical wire, cables, munitions, and other products, the factories that lined my town’s waterfront for much of the 20th century were also responsible for extensively contaminating the surrounding area with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and petroleum hydrocarbons.

For many decades, the environmental damage caused by such industry was accepted as the price of progress. Raw sewage and oil slicks in the waters of the Hudson were not unusual sights, and relatives tell stories of a popular spot along the river, from which swimmers in the 1960s would emerge covered in the dye produced—and dumped—by a nearby riverfront factory. […]

Corinne McSpedon, senior editor2018-04-21T08:49:06-04:00April 21st, 2018|environmental health, Nursing, Public health|0 Comments

The 1918 Influenza Epidemic’s Long Reach in Time

“It would be impossible to relate all the sad and terrible scenes . . . all night long . . . witnessing death scenes, seeing weeping relatives and trying to take care of emergencies . . . “

A mother’s death remembered.

Litter carriers at Red Cross Emergency Ambulance Station in Washington, D.C., during influenza pandemic of 1918.

When my grandfather was six years old, his mother went to sleep one night and never woke up. She was one of the nearly 700,000 Americans who died during the 1918–1919 influenza pandemic, which killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide. The rest of her young family—my grandfather and his twin brother, their seven-year-old sister, and my great-grandfather—survived. The shock of losing his mother so suddenly was still evident when my grandfather talked about her 70 years later. She was 29 years old and healthy, and then she was gone.

High mortality, even among healthy young adults.

My family was not alone as it mourned. The CDC estimates that one-third of the world’s population was infected by what’s become known as the “Spanish flu.” (The origin of this name is unclear: some sources suggest it’s due to a misunderstanding about […]

Corinne McSpedon, senior editor2018-03-07T09:08:45-05:00March 7th, 2018|infectious diseases, Nursing, Public health|1 Comment

A Nurse, a Purple Heart Medal, and the Pearl Harbor Attack

USS Arizona burning after Pearl Harbor attack

Tomorrow is National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, when we honor the more than 2,400 Americans who were killed in the attack on December 7, 1941, that led the United States to enter World War II. Many nurses were there that day, caring for the wounded and showing civilians how to be of assistance—just as they have been during wartime dating back to the American Revolution. They have served in the U.S. military since Congress authorized the Army Nurse Corps and Navy Nurse Corps in the first decade of the 1900s, and before that provided battlefield care as civilians.

A nurse honored for service during the Pearl Harbor Attack.

Some of these nurses are spotlighted by exhibits and web pages of the National Women’s History Museum, an online museum that aims to “show the full scope of women’s contributions to history” and thus highlights the histories of female-majority professions such as nursing. “The Bravery of Army Nurse Annie G. Fox at Pearl Harbor” tells the story of the first U.S. servicewoman to receive the Purple Heart medal. First Lieutenant Fox was the head nurse at Station Hospital at Hickam Field, on the naval base at Pearl Harbor, when the […]

Corinne McSpedon, senior editor2017-12-06T10:48:59-05:00December 6th, 2017|Nursing, nursing history|0 Comments

‘An Urgent Public Health Challenge’ – APHA Meeting Emphasizes Climate Change

APHA climate change/health infographic. Click to enlarge.

The theme of this year’s American Public Health Association (APHA) meeting in Atlanta is “Creating the Healthiest Nation: Climate Changes Health.” The meeting is estimated to have drawn 12,000 attendees. Below are highlights so far.

Threats and opportunities.

Monday night, Howard Frumkin, DrPH, MPH, MD, of the University of Washington, called climate change “one of the most pressing public health issues we face.” In discussing the recently released Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change 2017 Report: U.S. Briefing, a joint publication of the Lancet and APHA that highlights the threats and opportunities climate change poses to Americans, Frumkin identified some key findings:

Exposure to dangerous heat and severe weather events is increasing.
Exposure to disease and allergies is changing (one example: allergy seasons are often prolonged).
The carbon intensity of U.S. energy use is decreasing, but this process must be accelerated to reduce climate-related health risks.

Nurse voices in environmental health.

During a session called “Public Health Nursing Research—Climate, Health, and Vulnerable Populations,” Linda A. McCauley, PhD, RN, FAAN, of Emory University, highlighted the vital role nurses play both in producing research findings about environmental hazards and human health and in translating these into practice.

“Nurses can go to the science and take it back to the community. That’s what we’re so good at.”

But when it comes to speaking out about environmental issues […]

Corinne McSpedon, senior editor2017-11-08T10:31:59-05:00November 8th, 2017|environmental health, Nursing|0 Comments

About Corinne McSpedon, senior editor

Making Sense of the Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines Controversy

Confusion for patients and providers.

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Earth Day 2018: Making the Connection Between Environmental and Human Health

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The 1918 Influenza Epidemic’s Long Reach in Time

A mother’s death remembered.

High mortality, even among healthy young adults.

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A Nurse, a Purple Heart Medal, and the Pearl Harbor Attack

A nurse honored for service during the Pearl Harbor Attack.

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‘An Urgent Public Health Challenge’ – APHA Meeting Emphasizes Climate Change

Threats and opportunities.

Nurse voices in environmental health.

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