About Julianna Paradisi, RN, OCN

Julianna Paradisi, RN, OCN, finds inspiration where science, humanity, and art converge, creating compelling images as both a writer and a painter. She is the author of https://jparadisirn.com/, and also blogs frequently for http://www.theonc.org/ and https://ajnoffthecharts.com/, the blog of the American Journal of Nursing (AJN).

Isn’t It Ironic: A Nurse Reflects on Her J&J Vaccination

Irony: a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result. -dictionary.com

Vaccine, by Julianna Paradisi

On a recent Saturday afternoon I received the Johnson and Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine. The following Tuesday, its further administration was put on pause, “out of an abundance of caution,” after reports that six women between the ages of 18 and 48 developed a rare but serious form of blood clot six to 13 days after receiving the vaccine. One of the six women died.

There is nothing amusing about the irony that people seeking protection from COVID-19 may have developed a life-threatening adverse reaction from the vaccine. For health care providers, and perhaps especially for nurses, such events are heartbreaking.

Lifting the J&J pause.

On Friday, April 23, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the FDA lifted the 10-day pause on the J&J vaccine, without restrictions, instead issuing a fact sheet to medical providers warning them of the potential for the extremely rare but serious blood clots.

When the pause was lifted, over 7 million people had received the vaccine, with additional confirmed cases of blood clots that had been […]

2021-04-26T11:16:05-04:00April 26th, 2021|COVID-19, infectious diseases, Nursing, nursing perspective, Public health|0 Comments
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Learning on the Fly: Thoughts on Birding and Nursing During a Pandemic

“This book is about interpreting what you see and hear in order to make better judgments.”

Tundra Swans, watercolor and ink, 2021 by Julianna Paradisi

It’s my opinion that every nursing textbook should open with the above statement. However, it’s from the introduction to Sibley’s Birding Basics, by David Allen Sibley.

During home isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, my husband and I took up birdwatching as a way to get out of our home and entertain ourselves while maintaining our “bubble.” Armed with binoculars, David’s camera, and my artist’s field bag, we visit local wetlands and wildlife reserves, recording our finds. That led me to read Birding Basics.

Experience coupled with pattern recognition.

As a nurse, I can’t help but link the idea of “interpreting what you see and hear in order to make better judgments” as a definition of a nurse’s intuition, commonly referred to as a “nurse’s gut.”

While there are times when a nurse’s clinical intuition borders on the psychic, many of these revelations are a product of bedside experience. For instance, patients, including infants, sometimes exhibit facial grimaces or say words that a hawk-eyed bedside nurse rightly interprets as signs of impending doom such as […]

2021-03-23T10:13:08-04:00March 23rd, 2021|Nursing|0 Comments
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For the Mentally Ill in Crisis, Someone Safe to Call for Help

A troubling encounter.

by julianna paradisi

Although it happened over two months ago, I’m still haunted by the memory, particularly during this cold, harsh winter following on the heels of a politically tumultuous summer and fall.

I’ve run the same loop along the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, for years. This particular morning, a young man walked some 20 feet ahead of me on the sidewalk. He carried by its neck a 1/2 gallon jug of apple juice. Unexpectedly, he tossed an opened box of granola bars, with several individually wrapped bars inside, to the ground and kept walking.

He stopped abruptly at the same time I stopped to wait on the curb for traffic to subside so I could cross to the other side of the street, which is what I routinely do on my route.

We were now six to eight feet apart. From my peripheral vision I noticed him turn and face me. Because we’re in the middle of a pandemic, I was wearing a mask; this and my proximity seemed to disturb him. I stepped away a few paces, giving him more space.

Over my shoulder he said, “You’re a bitch.” I ignored him. He stepped closer, and repeated more loudly, […]

2021-02-25T10:54:11-05:00February 25th, 2021|mental illness, mental illness|0 Comments
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To Be or Not to Be: Choosing Between a Career in Art or Nursing

Art or Nursing, ink and watercolor, 2021 by Julianna Paradisi

The phrase ‘art of nursing’ describes how nurses bring personalized care to our patients. People with creative impulses are often as attracted to health science as to paint and canvas. My own combined career path of artist, writer, and nurse is an example. But although nursing and creative arts careers sometimes overlap, they require very different preparation and academic degrees .

Because of the path I’ve taken, I’m often approached by multitalented young people wanting advice when deciding between dedicating themselves to a career in the arts or taking a chance with building an art career while enjoying a relatively more dependable income in nursing.

A recent email from an artistically gifted high school senior distilled her concerns into these questions:

  • Do you find it rewarding to be a nurse?
  • Did nursing help your art career?
  • Do you have regrets about choosing nursing instead of another career more related to a career in art?
  • What advice would you give about this decision?

Yes, I have found nursing rewarding.

I have written in other blog posts that nursing was not my first choice for a career. I wanted to be a writer and make art, […]

2021-01-27T10:22:15-05:00January 25th, 2021|Nursing, nursing career|4 Comments
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Time Matters, Priorities Change: A Nurse and Cancer Survivor on Living with the Pandemic

Everything is different, and the same.

Michael Himbeault/Wikimedia Commons

It’s going to be a while before things get to normal, if they ever do. It’s more like the future will become the normal.

The only thing in my experience I can liken it to is my cancer survivorship: you start living your life again, but everything is different. Priorities change. Your sense of safety never fully returns, yet because of this you become more purposeful in living: time matters. It’s as though you go on living, but learn a new way to do it.

There’s actually a sense of freedom accompanying the realization that nothing/no one lasts forever.

Finding a middle ground.

After I completed treatment, I watched the Jeff Bridges film Fearless (1993). His character is a survivor of a horrendous airliner crash, and he develops a sense of invincibility as a way of coping. I understood his character really well. You either hide in fear, or you go forward as if you are invincible. Eventually, you discover a middle ground. […]

2020-05-27T10:26:29-04:00May 27th, 2020|infectious diseases, Nursing, patient experience, Public health, wellness|0 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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