Finally a Mandate for Masks in North Dakota-But What Will It Mean?

by Joanne Disch, PHD, RN, FAAN, former president of the American Academy of Nursing

On Monday, November 9, North Dakota governor Doug Burgum issued a new policy that allows health care workers who are COVID-positive but asymptomatic to continue working at hospitals and nursing homes. This is in response to a dramatic increase of COVID cases, with hospitals at near 100% capacity and a shortage of an adequate supply of nurses across the state.

And on Wednesday, November 11, the state set its eighth-consecutive daily record for active cases, reaching 11,656. According to the Associated Press, North Dakota continued “to lead the nation in daily new COVID-19 cases per capita . . . , with one in every 83 residents of the state testing positive for the virus in just the past week.”

Unsurprising result of state’s laissez-faire approach.

While shocking, this is not surprising: North Dakota has been one of the states that has consistently rejected mask mandates or social distancing practices and been slow to reduce elective procedures or limit the business hours of restaurants and bars.

Without having taken these preventive steps, the state now faces a significant crisis. It’s unconscionable that nurses […]

2020-11-17T13:01:05-05:00November 17th, 2020|health care policy, Nursing, Public health|0 Comments
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Despite Marijuana Legalization Trend, Licensure Pitfalls for Nurses Remain

Voters in still more states opt for marijuana legalization.

THC-infused gummies

If there’s a chance something you’re doing, even if it’s legal in your state, could nevertheless endanger your nursing license or cost you your job, are you likely to risk it? This is the quandary many nurses find themselves in when it comes to the use of medical or recreational marijuana or even cannnabidiol (CBD) oil.

During the November presidential election, five more states voted on ballot initiatives to legalize either recreational marijuana (Arizona, New Jersey, and South Dakota), medical marijuana (Mississippi), or in one case (Montana) both at the same time. Every year more states legalize medical and/or recreational marijuana.

And CBD, a hemp-derived compound that in certain formulations contains trace amounts of the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, THC, has rapidly become available in stores, cafes, and online and in multiple forms.

Whether prescribed by a physician and obtained at a medical marijuana dispensary, purchased legally in a state that allows its sale for recreational use, or obtained through other means, marijuana is increasingly being used by Americans for a wide range of problems major and minor, including chemotherapy-induced nausea, insomnia, epilepsy, and certain types of chronic pain. CBD oil in various forms is also being widely used for multiple health conditions.

Marijuana is still classified […]

2021-04-02T15:34:27-04:00November 16th, 2020|Nursing, nursing career|0 Comments
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Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Critical Role for Nurses in Screening and Interventions

“‘What’s the scoop with our autism screening?’ a concerned mother asked the nurse upon realizing that the autism spectrum disorder screening questionnaire she had completed wasn’t addressed during her daughter’s well-child visit. The nurse brought the mother’s concern to the primary care provider, who replied, ‘Don’t worry, I only look at screenings if I think there’s a problem. I can spot autism during a patient visit.’”

Is this provider’s confident claim a realistic one? Almost certainly not, as will become clear to anyone who reads the CE articles on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the October (“From the CDC: Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder“) and November (“Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Nurse’s Role“) issues of AJN. As a result of such casual attitudes toward screening, many autistic children are almost certainly not receiving the early treatment and monitoring that can make a big difference in their quality of life.

Delayed diagnosis reduces the window for effective interventions.

ASD is the most common developmental disability in the United States, yet according to the November CE article, screening rates across the U.S. range from a low of 17.2% in Mississippi to a high of less than 60% in Oregon. […]

2020-11-12T10:16:12-05:00November 12th, 2020|Nursing|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 time […]

2020-11-09T09:46:50-05:00November 9th, 2020|infectious diseases, Nursing, nursing perspective|1 Comment
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How Research Starts: Choosing a Question That Passes the ‘So What’ Test

As an undergrad at the University of Michigan School of Nursing more than 40 years ago, I was among the few students who loved the required “research” course. I don’t know whether I looked forward to that class because I was an avid reader of Nancy Drew and saw research as detective work, or simply because nursing was so new to me that everything about it seemed exciting.

The main idea behind the course was that all nurses should be able to read and understand research reports. We didn’t get into the nuts and bolts of study design, complex statistics, or modeling, but we were expected to be able to analyze basic nursing research articles and to identify a study’s strengths and weaknesses.

This early experience didn’t lead me to pursue a career in research, but it left me with a respect for the research process and an interest in asking clinical questions.

Research basics explained.

Now, I have a chance to update my understanding of the field through AJN’s new series on research basics, Nursing Research, Step by Step. The first installment, “How Does Research Start?” is in the October issue of AJN. In this introduction to the subject, author Bernadette Capili makes it clear that […]

2020-10-29T08:57:25-04:00October 29th, 2020|Nursing, nursing research, nursing students|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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