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

Editor-in-chief, (emerita), AJN

Low Physical Activity Among Chinese American Immigrants with Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes

“…compared with the general population, people who have or are at risk for type 2 diabetes are significantly less likely to engage in regular physical activity.”

On this month’s cover, group practices tai chi during snowfall in Shenyang, China. ©Photo Reuters/Stringer.

We all know that physical activity is important for maintaining health—for everyone. It’s especially important to prevent or manage prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.

AJN’s February research feature, “Physical Activity Among Chinese American Immigrants with Prediabetes or Type 2 Diabetes,” takes a special look at the issue among Chinese American immigrants. Diabetes is the fifth leading cause of death among Asian Americans, so researchers wanted to investigate what this population’s knowledge of and barriers to physical activity might be.

Recruiting from a community health center in New York City, researchers conducted interviews with 100 foreign-born Chinese American adults having a diagnosis of prediabetes or type 2 diabete

According to the study authors:

“Chinese American immigrants with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes tend to be sedentary and are less likely to perform moderate or vigorous physical activity than the general population . . . .The findings also highlight some of the barriers to such activity and suggest a need […]

2018-02-07T10:30:12-05:00February 7th, 2018|exercise, Nursing, nursing research, patient engagement, personal health practices|0 Comments
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Experienced Bedside Nurses: An Endangered Species?

“The trend toward our hospitals being primarily populated with nurses with less than two years’ experience is worrisome.”

At least three colleagues who’ve recently been patients in hospitals or had family members who were have remarked on the youthful nurses they encountered—and on their lack of experience. In two of the conversations, my colleagues cited instances in which this lack of experience was detrimental to care, one of them dangerous. That “sixth sense,” that level of awareness that comes with lived experience and becomes part of expert clinical knowledge, is important for safe, quality patient care.

In the February editorial, I report on the answers I received when I queried our editorial board members about new nurses’ inclination to work in acute care for only two years to gain experience and then leave to pursue NP careers. Many of the board members have seen a similar trend, one reflected by research on nurse retention, some of it published in AJN (most recently, see Christine Kovner’s February 2014 study on the work patterns of newly licensed RNs, free until February 6). […]

2018-01-29T09:54:37-05:00January 29th, 2018|career, Nursing, nursing roles, patient safety, Patients|28 Comments
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Pain, an Ever-Present Concern for Patients—and Nurses

Nurses at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago manage baby boy’s postoperative pain following heart transplant. Photo courtesy of Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital.

In my experience working with severely ill or injured patients, pain was what they talked about the most. They either asked about it prior to a treatment or intervention (“How much is this going to hurt?”), relived their history with it (“This pain isn’t as bad as the pain I had….”), or were consumed with fear that it would never end (“I can’t handle this—can’t they give me anything for it?”).

Post-op patients mostly had the same standard order, whether they were slightly built women or burly men: meperidine 25mg q3-4 h IM. I remember watching the time so I could administer the medication as soon as the clock would allow—and sometimes “fudging” the time a bit because the medication wasn’t “holding” the patient. It was one of the topmost issues for nurses in acute care—how to ensure patients were comfortable and pain free. As a nurse, not […]

2018-01-17T10:04:37-05:00January 17th, 2018|Nursing|0 Comments
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The Ten Most-Viewed AJN articles in 2017

What AJN Readers Read

nurse typing on keyboardIt’s always interesting (at least to me) to look back over the year and see what articles were the most popular. While we can’t be sure what people who read AJN in print actually viewed, we can get a good idea from those who read online. From those who accessed AJN articles either through the Ovid institutional subscription service or through our own website, www.ajnonline.com (but not counting those who read AJN articles on the iPad or via the company nursing portal, www.nursingcenter.com), here’s what we know readers viewed the most. Some of the content was new in 2017; some of it was not.

  1. AJN’s award-winning series “Evidence-Based Practice, Step-by-Step.” – This series of 11 articles by Melnyk, Fineout-Overholt, and colleagues ran every other month from November 2009 through July 2011 and took readers through the steps of searching and appraising the literature and implementing change.
  2. “Nursing’s Evolving Role in Patient Safety,” by Sonya Kowalski and Maureen Anthony (February 2017). This content analysis of AJN articles from 1900 to 2015 explored the nurse’s role in promoting patient safety. (I have to admit, as a history buff, this is one of my personal favorites.)
  3. “Interprofessional Collaboration and Education,” by Mary Sullivan et al (March 2015). This article describes the tenets […]
2018-01-02T14:46:41-05:00January 2nd, 2018|Nursing|0 Comments
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Who’s to Blame for Poor Health?

We hear it over and over and probably say it to our patients: to be healthy, follow a proper diet, don’t smoke, and be active. And if diagnosed with an illness, adhere to the agreed-upon plan of care. Sounds simple—and when patients return time and again with the same issues, we often blame them (secretly, of course) for not taking care of themselves.

But for how many of our patients is what we’re asking them to do less a matter of personal choice than a function of the neighborhood in which they live and the limitations imposed by their socioeconomic circumstances?

Many people don’t live within walking distance of a grocery store that offers fresh vegetables and fruit. Or if they do, they may not be able to afford the more nutritious choices, which are often more expensive. Many urban areas lack playgrounds. Air pollution and substandard housing materials can cause asthma and heart disease. Being born into poverty can result in poor nutrition, contributing to poor health, as well as limited access to health care, education, and job opportunities.

Social determinants of health, before we called them that.

Nurse and social worker Lillian Wald understood this when she and colleague Mary Brewster established the Henry Street Settlement in New York City’s Lower East Side, where […]

2017-12-20T10:31:27-05:00December 20th, 2017|Nursing, Public health|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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