Nurses spend more time with patients than most other types of providers and have unique insight into patient care and the the healthcare system.

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 reported bringing […]

2021-04-26T11:16:05-04:00April 26th, 2021|COVID-19, infectious diseases, Nursing, nursing perspective, Public health|0 Comments
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‘Right Under Our Noses’: Nightmarish Nursing Home Conditions During the Pandemic

As vaccinations increase and COVID-19 infection rates in nursing homes plummet, it’s easy to forget just how bad things got in many of them and how ill-equipped many were in the the early months of the pandemic to provide humane and effective care.

The following excerpt is from our March Reflections essay, “Right Under Our Noses: Nursing Homes and COVID-19,” which was written by a California nursing professor who volunteered to join a California Medical Assistance Team. The mission of her team was to bring aid to a skilled nursing facility where the coronavirus was rapidly infecting both patients and staff, a facility with little PPE available and many staff members refusing to come to work out of fear of infection.

The conditions I saw were shocking, even to an experienced nurse. I saw soggy diapers on the floor at the heads of many beds on most mornings. One day a bedbound patient needed the bedpan. I searched every closet and drawer but there were no supplies. I filled a basin with warm water and cut up a PPE gown to make washcloths to clean the patient. On the second day of my deployment I realized that many of the […]

2021-03-18T12:10:25-04:00March 18th, 2021|COVID-19, Ethics, infectious diseases, Nursing, nursing perspective, safe staffing|1 Comment
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Congress Adds a Nurse

U.S. Representative Cori Bush goes to Washington.

U.S. Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO). Photo courtesy of Cori Bush.

“It’s critical that nurses have a seat at the table when it comes to the policies coming out of Congress. Every single policy needs a nurse’s eye. We talk a lot about the social determinants of health, because it’s all connected . . . nurses see things in a different way.”

As described in this month’s Profiles column, U.S. Representative Cori Bush, RN, arrived in Washington, DC, in January, bringing with her a nurse’s eye and experience as an activist and pastor.

An election representing several firsts.

Her election marked several firsts: she is the first nurse and Black woman Missouri has sent to Congress, and she is also the first woman representative in her district in its almost 200-year history. Bush joins two other nurses in Congress, Representatives Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas and Lauren Underwood of Illinois. […]

2021-03-12T11:21:43-05:00March 12th, 2021|Nursing, nursing perspective, nursing roles|0 Comments
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‘What a Decade This Year Has Been’: Nurses Worldwide Double Down on Commitment to Care

The year nobody expected.

A mere dozen months ago, we were all set to celebrate the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, poised to shine in the global spotlight with the spring release of the first State of the World’s Nursing report. There were plans to fete us with dinners and awards. “Give them ribbons, buttons and badges to wear,” one website suggested.

How quaint and frivolous that sentiment seems now in light of the continuing shortages of the masks, face shields, gowns, and gloves that we need to protect ourselves, our patients, our families and communities from COVID-19

Nurses in the spotlight.

The pandemic changed everything—except for the fact that nurses did land squarely in the spotlight this past year. Nurses—as always—were asked to multitask when the first confirmed cases led to sustained global transmission. We dug in even as we pivoted, attempting to prevent hard-won health gains from being reversed. For example, women still needed prenatal care. Lockdowns didn’t preclude families from requiring essential preventive and lifesaving treatments for countless infectious and chronic diseases—including malaria, HIV, TB, diabetes, and cancer—that suddenly took […]

2020-12-04T10:33:26-05:00December 4th, 2020|COVID-19, Nursing, nursing perspective, nursing roles, Public health|0 Comments
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Notes from the AIDS/HIV Epidemic for Nurses Working in the COVID Pandemic

The accounts of nurses working in the midst of this pandemic vividly remind me of my work as a nurse in the early days of the AIDS epidemic. I am reminded of the period when we did not know how the disease was transmitted, when we believed that caring for them involved great personal risk. I remember masking, gowning, and gloving every time I entered a patient room. I still recall the wonderful patients I had the opportunity to care for, and I understand that watching a patient die alone is the probably the most difficult experience that we will ever face as nurses.

I spent years on the front line of the AIDS epidemic and now am teaching future nurses. I am dedicated to helping nurses cope in times of crisis. We have chosen difficult work. Work that is more difficult than we could have possibly understood when we entered nursing school. Work that can also be extremely rewarding. I am proud to be a part of this noble profession, and I hope that it may be useful for me to share some of the things that I have learned.

1. It is extremely important to take care of your physical health.

I remember days I didn’t have […]

2020-11-09T09:46:50-05:00November 9th, 2020|infectious diseases, Nursing, nursing perspective|1 Comment
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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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