About Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN, FAAN, editor-in-chief (emerita)

Editor-in-chief, (emerita), AJN

A Call to Address Fatigue to Protect Nurse Health and Patient Safety—from 1919

The evidence on nurse fatigue has been there all along.

During Women’s History Month, which is about to end, I’ve been posting (here and here) on nursing history (and in the process exploring its close confluence with women’s history). For this last post, I’m highlighting an article published in the March 1919 issue of AJN—exactly 100 years ago. The evidence on fatigue from long working hours has been there all along.

“The Movement For Shorter Hours in Nurses’ Training Schools” (free until April 15; click on the pdf version in the upper right), was written by Isabel Stewart, who was professor and then director of the nursing program at Teachers College, Columbia University, and coauthor of the National League for Nursing Education (the forerunner of today’s National League for Nursing) Standard Curriculum for Schools of Nursing.

A call for 8-hour work days for nurses.

In this article, which is in some ways disturbingly relevant today, Isabel Stewart notes that major nursing organizations recently met and were seeking “to enlist the support of a great many influential organizations and the general public in establishing an eight-hour day and a fifty-two hour week for pupil nurses.” (As a reminder, hospital nursing staff at that time […]

2019-03-29T11:07:06-04:00March 29th, 2019|Nursing, nursing history, patient safety|3 Comments
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Back to the Future of Nursing

A new hashtag: #FutureofNursing2030

In 2010, a committee of the Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine), released a report to lay out a vision for nursing for the coming decade. That decade is now almost over. The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health is the most viewed and most downloaded report of the National Academies. On March 20 in Washington, D.C., Victor Dzau, president of the National Academy of Medicine, announced an impending follow-up report for the next ten years: The Future of Nursing: 2020-2030.

Outcomes, not page views, are what matters.

Noting that “success is measured by outcomes and impact, and not by downloads and page views,” Dzau cited a few of the accomplishments that arose from the 2010 report:

  • removing barriers that limited NP practice (21 states and the District of Columbia allow for full practice authority)
  • doubling the number of nurses with doctoral degrees
  • increasing the diversity of nursing students

But Dzau also noted that more needs to be done in these areas, and he emphasized the need for better data about the nursing workforce. The new report will be a consensus study that seeks to chart a new path for nursing “to help our nation create a culture of health, reduce health disparities, and improve the […]

2019-03-27T07:35:17-04:00March 27th, 2019|health care policy, Nursing|0 Comments
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The Lasting Influence of the Progressive Visiting Nurses of the Late 19th Century

Nursing has a long history of advocacy and activism on behalf of vulnerable populations. For Women’s History Month, we have been drawing attention to the theme of the intimate connection between nursing history and women’s history. In this post, we share an image of nurses at the Henry Street Settlement in New York’s Lower East Side in the late 19th century, where nurse and social worker Lillian Wald organized nurses to bring essential health services and much more to the poor immigrant populations of the area.

A new model of possibility.

These early visiting nurses established a new model of possibility that has echoed through efforts since to improve the health and living conditions of millions. The following text, from the editorial comment in the January 1902 issue of the American Journal of Nursing, suggests that the efforts of these progressive nurses in the Lower East Side threw into relief some of the forces of corruption in New York City’s famed and powerful political machine that were keeping the poor in such abysmal and unhealthy living and working conditions.

Henry Street Settlement Nurse, Lower East Side, New York City

“After the downfall of […]

2019-03-15T11:07:58-04:00March 15th, 2019|Nursing|0 Comments
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Women’s History is Nursing’s History

We would be remiss not to highlight Women’s History Month—after all, nursing’s history is intrinsically tied to women’s history. As women became more independent, so too did nursing. And it’s important to acknowledge our history of contributions to shaping this country’s health care system. As I note in a March 2015 editorial:

“The story of nursing continues to be one of social commitment, innovation, and problem solving. It legitimizes and supports our inclusion on governing boards and our presence at policymaking tables. It can infuse each of us with pride and energy for the work we do.”

One hundred and nineteen years of archives.

Linda Richards, first American trained nurse

AJN has 119 years of archives documenting nursing’s legacy (all free to read for subscribers). To mark Women’s History Month, each Friday this month we are highlighting an archive article and making it free until April 1. Today we’re sharing “Recollections of a Pioneer Nurse,” which was published in January 1903 (click through to the PDF version for the best version).

First trained nurse in the United States.

The article was written by Linda Richards (1841-1940), considered the first trained nurse in the United States. It’s a vivid first-person account of her experiences in nursing at the turn of the […]

2019-03-15T10:04:27-04:00March 8th, 2019|Nursing|0 Comments
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When Family Caregivers Are Unsure

Those who care for ailing family members are often faced with new symptoms or with changes in a loved one’s condition. They have to decide if it’s a natural progression of the disease and “just” another thing to manage, or if it signals a serious problem like a urinary tract infection, pneumonia, or a COPD exacerbation that needs to be addressed. Often, they end up in the ER, in some cases needlessly.

The authors of the original research CE article in this month’s issue, “New Acute Symptoms in Older Adults with Cognitive Impairment: What Should Family Caregivers Do?,” write:

“If caregivers have a clear understanding and awareness of their loved ones’ existing symptoms, they’ll be better prepared to recognize changes and new symptoms. Early recognition makes it more likely that the patient can be treated in place and trips to the ED can be avoided.”

Are caregivers being adequately prepared?

As I write in the March editorial, with over 43.5 million adults providing care to family members, we need to ensure they are prepared to do so by the time their loved one is discharged from the hospital

These caregivers provide complex care—from injections and ostomy care to managing ventilators and tube feedings—and according to surveys conducted by […]

2019-03-04T07:29:14-05:00March 4th, 2019|family caregiving, family caregiving, Patients|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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