nursing perspective Archives - Page 130 of 158

Should Nurses Be Better Prepared to Meet Patients’ Spiritual Needs?

[A] survey of over 4,000 nurses found that only a small minority (5%) felt that they could always meet the spiritual needs of patients, and the vast majority (80%) felt that spirituality should be covered in nurse education as a core aspect of nursing.

The most important spiritual need identified by nurses was having respect for privacy, dignity and religious and cultural beliefs (94%). Spending time with patients giving support and reassurance especially in a time of need (90%) and showing kindness, concern and cheerfulness when giving care (83%) were also key concerns.

The above excerpt is from an article in Health News Today about a survey conducted among nurses in the UK. And here’s one more excerpt, a direct quote from a nurse who took part in the survey:

“I am a Christian. However, I do not believe it is appropriate for me to impose my beliefs on others while they are in a vulnerable position. What I do believe is that I support them in the particular spiritual needs during that time – whether they be Christian, Muslim, Atheist, whatever. It is their right to be treated as a whole, unique person and it is our duty, as nurses, to treat all our patients holistically, for the person they are and the beliefs that they hold. Physical care has to be tailored to each individual and so should spiritual care.”

But why bother? After all, who has time? Well, spirituality may affect outcomes. A 2004 article published in the Journal of Family Practice reviewed […]

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:17:44-05:00May 13th, 2010|nursing perspective|3 Comments

Scientist, Healer, Nurse

. . . we’d sliced his chest cavity open during our dissection, rendering his beating heart clearly visible. He was pinned to a small tray and covered with a cheesecloth. I brought him home in a shoe box on a sparsely populated school bus, and placed him carefully on the coffee table in the living room.

If the above excerpt sounds like it’s lifted from the intimate memoirs of a torturer, it’s not. It’s from the May Reflections essay, “The Soul on the Head of a Pin,” which is written by Marcy Phipps (for the nicest version, click through to the PDF once you’ve reached the article at our Website). Marcy is a nurse who uses a simple, elegantly rendered childhood story to explore the sometimes unnerving gap inside every nurse between the roles of objective scientist and compassionate healer. -JM

Marcy Phipps, BSN, RN, CCRN, CFRN2016-11-21T13:17:46-05:00May 10th, 2010|career, nursing perspective|0 Comments

What to Teach Patients and Their Families About Asthma

What do you need to know about asthma, and what should you teach your patients about its prevention and management? This month’s CE article gives a comprehensive and accessible overview, with medication, symptom, and common allergen tables, as well as advice like the following about the use of “action plans,” which may be particularly helpful with patients with “moderate or severe persistent asthma, a history of exacerbations, or poorly controlled asthma.”

Action plans should be simple and easy to use. Many use a traffic light analogy, describing green, yellow, and red zones for which specific actions are prescribed. In the green (“go”) zone, patients’ [peak expiratory flow rate] PEFR is 80% to 100% of their personal best and they have no symptoms. These patients can continue using their daily medications and taking steps to limit exposure to triggers, as described in their plan. When patients’ PEFR is 50% to 80% of their personal best and they have symptoms, they’ve entered the yellow (“caution”) zone, and practitioners may consider prescribing alternative antiinflammatory medications and, possibly, a higher dose or more frequent use of the rescue medication. Patients whose PEFR drops below 50% of their personal best and whose symptoms fail to improve significantly with prescribed rescue medications are in the red (“danger–stop”) zone. They should increase medication as indicated in their action plan and call their health care provider immediately. If unable to reach their provider, they should stop what they’re […]

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Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:17:49-05:00May 6th, 2010|nursing perspective|0 Comments

The Manifold Talents of Nurses Who Are Artists

By Sylvia Foley, AJN senior editor

As the coordinator of AJN’s Art of Nursing department, I’m intrigued by intersections between the two fields: Art and Nursing. About a year ago I profiled several multitalented nurses (The Triple Talents of Some Nurse Bloggers), including Julianna Paradisi, an RN, artist, and writer who blogs about “where science, humanity, and art converge” at JParadisi RN’s Blog. (Her painting Love You to Death appeared on our October 2009 cover.) In March Paradisi launched a second blog, Die Krankenschwester, which emphasizes images. One series depicts rituals followed “From Cradle to Grave”; another considers the iconography of call lights. Paradisi’s work is beautiful and thought-provoking; stop by and have a look.

Recently I happened upon Nurse–Artists International, Inc. Started in 2009 by Kathy Iwanowski, an artist and former oncology and hospice nurse, the organization has an ambitious vision that includes “promoting the arts, humanities, and the therapeutic benefits of creativity in all aspects of life and living,” “creating and collaborating on projects related to arts and health with corporate, educational, healthcare, and other community partners” and “assessing the impact of the arts on health and healthcare costs.” Among its programs are the International Association of Nurse Artists, with membership open to nurses working in any artistic medium; Our Space to Create, a collaborative program for developing arts projects that meet community needs; and the Arts and Health Co-Lab, open to anyone interested […]

Guest Author2016-11-21T13:17:51-05:00May 5th, 2010|nursing perspective|6 Comments

Upper-Extremity Deep Vein Thrombosis: How Clinicians at One Hospital Achieved Lower Rates

By Sylvia Foley, AJN senior editor

At a suburban hospital in Indiana, clinicians noticed that the incidence of secondary upper-extremity deep vein thrombosis (DVT) at their facility seemed to be on the rise. As Lancaster and colleagues report in the May Emergency, this was alarming: upper-extremity DVT, once thought benign, is now known to be potentially dangerous, leading to complications such as symptomatic or asymptomatic pulmonary embolism, chronic venous insufficiency, and postthrombotic syndrome. Secondary upper-extremity DVT, which accounts for a majority of cases, can be linked to an identifiable risk factor. Patients may present with pain, swelling, and bruising in the area of the thrombosis—but many patients show no symptoms. So it’s essential that nurses know which patients are at risk and how to minimize that risk.

The Indiana clinicians reviewed the literature to deepen their understanding. They also tracked all patients who underwent ultrasonography at their facility and conducted retrospective chart reviews, gathering data for a full year. Several new risk factors were identified, including

the use of the large veins at the antecubital fossa for peripheral IV access;
the use of harsh medications administered via peripheral IV; and
certain peripherally-inserted central catheter (PICC) flushing and care practices.

What they learned prompted several changes to nursing care, and the incidence of secondary upper-extremity DVT at this facility has since declined. To learn more about this quality improvement project and the changes that were implemented, read […]

Guest Author2016-11-21T13:17:55-05:00April 30th, 2010|nursing perspective, nursing research|0 Comments