A Measure of Contentment: One Patient’s Daily Ritual

By Annelisa Ochoa for AJN By Annelisa Ochoa for AJN

“A Measure of Contentment,” the August Reflections essay in AJN, describes the daily ritual of a resident in a long-term care facility. As author Nancy Ngaruiya shows us, nurses and other health care providers can sometimes notice, and support, the small pleasures and routines that make life worthwhile for patients.

Of this patient, she writes:

We make our own happiness. We define what makes us content, what actions help us find that happiness. Sometimes the recipe takes just a few ingredients. Even in an environment where freedom is limited, where rules dictate when to wake up and go to bed, what days of the week we will get assistance with a full bath and who will do it, what meals and activities are or are not available, he has defined what makes him content, perhaps even happy.

The patient in question happens to be one of those who often get frustrated, who aren’t always grateful or helpful—those who tend to be labeled as “challenging” or “difficult” by overworked providers. It’s easy to notice only the frustration of people who’ve watched their worlds shrink bit by bit as their freedoms and abilities diminish along with their health. […]

2016-11-21T13:01:02-05:00August 3rd, 2016|Nursing, nursing stories, patient experience|2 Comments
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AJN in August: Burn Survivors and Social Media, HPV–Related Oropharyngeal Cancer, More

The August issue of AJN is now live. Here are some articles we’d like to bring to your attention.

CE Feature: “Original Research: The Lived Experience of Social Media by Young Adult Burn Survivors”

Young adult burn survivors whose burns occurred before they reached young adulthood face particular socialization challenges. Social media is widely used by adolescents and young adults, allowing socialization without face-to-face communication. This qualitative, phenomenological study explores and describes young adult burn survivors’ experience of using social media. The findings, which indicate that social media use may support healing processes in this population, could help nurses develop effective interventions to better prepare young adult burn survivors for reentry into society.

CE Feature: “Human Papillomavirus–Related Oropharyngeal Cancer: A Review of Nursing Considerations”

The overall incidence of head and neck cancer has declined in the United States over the past 30 years due to reduction in tobacco use. Over that same period, however, the worldwide incidence of oropharyngeal cancer has escalated significantly, most notably among men and women under age 60 who live in developed countries. This epidemic rise in oropharyngeal cancer is largely attributed to certain genotypes of the human papillomavirus (HPV). This article provides an overview of head and neck cancer—its incidence, risk factors, treatment, and posttreatment sequelae—with a focus on HPV-related […]

2016-11-21T13:01:02-05:00August 1st, 2016|Nursing, nursing perspective|0 Comments
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Dark Water, Wild Winds: Notes of a Flight Nurse

I must see new things
And investigate them.
I want to taste dark water
And see crackling trees and wild winds.
—Egon Schiele

IMG_2650Repatriation

I’m standing on the tarmac in Manaus, Brazil, where there is indeed a wild wind; it blows debris across the runway yet does nothing to stave off the nearly intolerable heat. Sweat soaks my back and drips down the center of my chest. My limbs are heavy with lethargy. The heat index is 110 but it feels much hotter—even the Learjet fails to provide a haven from the equatorial sun.

We’d come to Brazil to repatriate an Englishman who’d been visiting family and was struck down by sudden and severe seizures. He’d spent weeks in the hospital, sustaining scans and diagnostics to pinpoint the cause, and endured the addition of one antiepileptic medication after another.

While the seizures finally ceased, he was left disquieted and uncomfortable, unsure which symptoms were due to the 7 cm brain mass that had been discovered and which were side effects of the myriad of antidotes. By the time we were dispatched for this mission, he was medically stable and ready to go home to deal with the ominous findings. Biopsies awaited and treatments would be […]

2016-11-21T13:01:03-05:00July 27th, 2016|career, Nursing, nursing stories, patient experience|0 Comments
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The Quandary of Scheduling Vacation Time for Nurses

Illustration by the author; all rights reserved Illustration by the author; all rights reserved

While shopping in a grocery store, I passed a display of craft brew beer that caught my eye. The sign read Hospice Beer! After a double take, I saw on closer inspection that the label actually read: Hop-Slice Beer.

I realized I was badly in need of a summer vacation. Fortunately, I already had one scheduled on the books.

Summer is a traditional time for vacations, but often not for nurses, for multiple reasons.

Paid time off benefits vary from organization to organization.

Some lump vacation hours and sick leave hours into the same bank, while others separate the two so that nurses accrue hours into each per pay period. Paid vacation time accrues slowly when it’s used for paid sick time.

Further, after accepting a new job, nurses may find that as the newbie they accrue vacation and sick leave hours at a rate lower than their colleagues hired earlier; this practice, called tiered employment, exists within many industries outside of health care, whether they’re union or not. The practice can foster division between the newly hired and existing staff within units. Newer hires accrue less benefits for the same amount of work as their peers. The practice is a double-edged […]

2016-11-21T13:01:03-05:00July 25th, 2016|career, Nursing, nursing perspective|0 Comments
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Appropriate Use of Opioids in the Management of Chronic Pain

Painted by Martin Edwards as part of the Paint Your Pain program initiated by the Pain Management Center at Overlook Medical Center, Atlantic Health System, Summit, New Jersey. For artwork of other patients in the program, go to http://bit.ly/ 1Ns0PxL.The dangerous misuse of prescription opioids and drugs like heroin has been much in the news, but millions of patients continue to suffer both acute and chronic pain. For many, prescription opioids play a vital role in alleviating that pain. How can health care providers most effectively and safely use opioids in the treatment and management of chronic pain? Some answers can be found in a CE article in the July issue of AJN: “Appropriate Use of Opioids in Managing Chronic Pain.”

Related questions on opioids and chronic pain addressed in the article include:

2016-11-21T13:01:03-05:00July 22nd, 2016|Nursing, pain management, patient safety|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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