Need Help Writing Systematic Reviews?

By Shawn Kennedy, AJN editor-in-chief

CaptureAs I explain in this month’s editorial, we’ve seen an increase in submissions, especially literature reviews, many from students in doctoral programs and from clinicians in organizations pursuing Magnet status. Many purport to be systematic reviews but lack many of the defining features, such as detail about search strategies or real synthesis of the results. This lack of knowledge around writing scholarly works reflects poorly on us as a profession.

We are very pleased to be collaborating with the Joanna Briggs Institute, the Australia-based group (they are at the University of Adelaide) with an expertise in appraising and synthesizing research and facilitating its dissemination and use. We launch a new series, Systematic Reviews, Step By Step, in the March issue. As our Evidence-Based Practice, Step-By-Step series does for applying evidence-based practice, this series presents a clear, progressive plan for writing a systematic review in several monthly installments. […]

2017-05-27T10:36:27-04:00March 10th, 2014|nursing perspective, nursing research|0 Comments
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AJN’s March Issue: New Series on Systematic Reviews, HIV Update, C. Diff on the Rise, Sexual Assault, More

AJN0314.Cover.OnlineAJN’s March issue is now available on our Web site. Here’s a selection of what not to miss, including two continuing education (CE) articles that you can access for free.

Advances in HIV testing and treatment. The photo on our cover, showing members of  Sexy With A Goal (SWAG), a program provided for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals affected by HIV and AIDS by the AIDS Service Center of New York City’s Lower East Side Peer Outreach Center, reflects the changing face of the AIDs epidemic. Thirty years ago, a diagnosis of HIV was tantamount to a death sentence. But the young men on our cover prove that this is no longer the case. With advances in treatment and patient advocacy, education, and support, HIV is now a chronic, manageable disease. A CE feature, “Nursing in the Fourth Decade of the HIV Epidemic,” discusses HIV epidemiology and policy in the United States, the HIV care cascade, advances in HIV testing and treatment, and how nurses can continue to have a positive impact on the HIV epidemic.

If you’re reading AJN on your iPad, you can watch a video describing one author’s early experience with an HIV-infected patient by tapping on the podcast icon on the first page. The video is also available on our Web site. A

New option for victims of sexual assault. Until recently, survivors of sexual assault […]

2016-11-21T13:05:18-05:00February 28th, 2014|nursing perspective, nursing research|0 Comments
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Staffing and Long Shifts – Some Recent Coverage

By Shawn Kennedy, AJN editor-in-chief

by patchy patch, via flickr by patchy patch, via flickr

The March issue will soon be published and be featured on the home page of our Web site, so before the February issue is relegated to the archive section, I want to highlight two articles. Knowing that some readers of this blog may not be regular readers of AJN (I know, hard to believe), I wanted to bring them to your attention.

I don’t usually blog about my own editorials, but the February editorial (“It All Comes Back to Staffing”) has apparently resonated with many readers. I’ve received several letters and a request to reprint it from a state nursing association. (The editorial includes a portion of a poignant letter I received from a reader in response to an editorial I’d written for the December 2013 issue, “Straight Talk About Nursing,” in which I discussed missed care—that is, the nursing care that we don’t get to but is often at the heart of individualizing care.)

The February editorial ties in with a special report, “Can a Nurse Be Worked to Death?”, by Roxanne Nelson from Van Insurance, which addresses the recent death of a nurse who was killed in a car accident while driving home […]

2017-05-11T21:22:34-04:00February 24th, 2014|nursing perspective, nursing research, patient engagement, patient safety, safe staffing|2 Comments
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AJN’s February Issue: New Nurses, Children’s Posttonsillectomy Pain, Medication Errors, More

AJN0214.Cover.Online

AJN’s February issue is now available on our Web site. Here’s a selection of what not to miss, including two continuing education (CE) articles, which you can access for free.

With high hospital turnover rates, keeping newly licensed RNs (NLRNs) continues to be a priority for hospitals. This month’s original research article, “Changing Trends in Newly Licensed RNs,” found that new nurses considered themselves to have fewer job opportunities and to be less likely to work in hospitals and more likely to have a second job than new nurses who were surveyed six years earlier. Earn 2.5 CE credits by reading this article and taking the test that follows.

Tonsillectomy is effective at treating a variety of pediatric disorders, such as sleep apnea and frequent throat infection. But it often results in prolonged, moderate-to-severe pain. “Posttonsillectomy Pain in Children” reviews the causes of posttonsillectomy pain, the efficacy of various treatment interventions, and the recommendations for patient and family teaching regarding pain management. Earn 2.3 CE credits by reading this article and taking the test that follows. If you’re reading AJN on your iPad, you can listen to a podcast interview with the author by tapping on the podcast icon on the first page. The podcast is also available on our Web site.

According to an Institute of Medicine report, at least 1.5 million preventable medication-related adverse events occur in the U.S […]

2016-11-21T13:05:32-05:00January 31st, 2014|nursing perspective, nursing research|0 Comments
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Workplace Discrimination: A Survey Among Newly Arrived Foreign-Educated Nurses

By Sylvia Foley, AJN senior editor

Table 2. Outcome Metrics by Recruitment Model Table 2. Outcome Metrics by Recruitment Model

This country has often relied on foreign-educated nurses (FENs) to ease nursing shortages—and  with more shortages predicted for as early as next year, it’s likely we’ll do so again. A positive workplace environment is a known predictor of staff retention; yet little is known about how FENs experience their jobs. To learn more, Patricia Pittman and colleagues surveyed more than 500 FENs. This month’s original research CE, “Perceptions of Employment-Based Discrimination Among Newly Arrived FENs,” reports on their findings. This abstract offers a brief overview.

Objective: To determine whether foreign-educated nurses (FENs) perceived they were treated equitably in the U.S. workplace during the last period of high international recruitment from 2003 to 2007.
Background: With experts predicting that isolated nursing shortages could return as soon as 2015, it is important to examine the lessons learned during the last period of high international recruitment in order to anticipate and address problems that may be endemic to such periods. In this baseline study, we asked FENs who were recruited to work in the United States between 2003 and 2007 about their hourly wages; clinical and cultural orientation to the United States; wages, benefits, and shift or unit assignments; and job satisfaction.
Methods. In 2008, we administered a survey to FENs who were issued VisaScreen certificates by the Commission on Graduates of Foreign […]

2017-07-27T14:48:52-04:00January 27th, 2014|nursing perspective, nursing research|3 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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