Nurses spend more time with patients than most other types of providers and have unique insight into patient care and the the healthcare system.
"Gina must be in her 20s today, but I still see her as the little girl sitting quietly at the cafeteria table waiting for someone to come back to her."
By James M. Stubenrauch, senior editor
Here’s something AJN’s readers might be interested in: National Public Radio has been running a short-short fiction contest—stories that can be read aloud in three minutes or less—and posting some of the better ones on its Web site, here. In Round Two of the contest, there was one extra rule that writers had to observe: the story had to begin with the sentence “The nurse left work at five o’clock.” The winner will be selected by James Wood, book critic at The New Yorker, any day now.
I especially enjoyed “Working Hours” by Natalie Miller, which begins: “The nurse left work at five o’clock. My heart stopped beating at 5:01.” It’s wildly inventive writing, but I wonder, would this situation occur in hospitals today?
Also, there are some excellent stories that have nothing to do with nursing among the Round One entries (and, by the way, I notice some people have made use of the comments section to post their own short-short stories—hmmm). Happy quick-quick reading!
By Diana J. Mason, editor-in-chief emeritus
We at AJN know that there are myriad ways that nurses learn about best practices in care. While we hope you read AJN every month, we know that many nurses would like the opportunity to hear from and talk firsthand with experts in clinical care. On October 4, 5, and 6, you’ll have that opportunity in Chicago at AJN’s first conference: Advancing Excellence in Clinical Practice. This will not be the typical conference where you are lectured to endlessly. The sessions are designed for lots of interaction with participants, in the belief that building sound best practices requires critical analysis of the evidence, local adaptation of idealized approaches to care, and refining what works according to specific circumstances. […]
Comments such as “I have to call the doctor; I can’t make that decision” would be better stated as “I will consult with the doctor and we will determine the next step together.” Instead of saying “I’ll be taking care of you today,” say “I am your registered nurse and will be coordinating your care today.” Many different people in uniforms or scrubs wander in and out of patients’ rooms every shift. Let’s introduce ourselves along with our profession so that patients get a better idea of what we really do in the nursing profession
By Sylvia Foley, senior editor
Like many city dwellers, I often find myself battling excessive noise. My apartment is across the street from a large city park, and although I’m grateful for the greenery, in the summer my neighbors and I have to contend with the outsize noise from bandshell concerts, impromptu sidewalk parties, and ramped-up car stereos. Frequent construction projects and an unrepentantly loud neighbor often add to this racket. It’s caused me to lose sleep, jacked up my blood pressure, and messed with my concentration. Indeed, when I was hospitalized with pneumonia briefly a while back, I actually found the quiet of the hospital a balm. Turns out I was lucky in that regard.
Hospitals are often noisy places. In this month’s Patients First column, authors Kimberly N. Montague and colleagues examine the “near-constant din created by equipment, hallway traffic, and conversation” that’s common in many hospitals. They point out that […]