Nursing Archives - Page 77 of 406

Patient Input on Obstacles to Sleep Helps Focus One Unit’s Improvement Efforts

Do you know anyone who’s ever had a good night’s sleep in the hospital? As nurses, we hear the complaints; as patients ourselves, or as family members of patients, we’ve been there.

Differing views on the source of a unit’s sleep problem.

After their hospital’s 20-bed telemetry unit received a low HCAHPS survey score on a quiet-at-night question, nurse practitioner Christian Karl Antonio and his colleagues at a northern California community hospital took on the challenge of improving patients’ sleep experience on the unit.

Before designing an intervention, they spoke with patients as well as staff, and were surprised to learn that the two groups see the problem differently.

“Patients perceived being awakened for vital signs, blood draws, and medication administration as the most frequently occurring factors that contributed to noise at night. On the other hand, staff members perceived that noise at night came from staff conversations, equipment with alarms, announcements on the paging system, and delivery carts, among other sources.”

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Betsy Todd, MPH, RN2020-10-08T10:01:55-04:00October 8th, 2020|family experience, Nursing, nursing research, Patients|0 Comments

How Do Nurses Feel About Assessing for and Promoting Safe Gun Storage?

My grandfather and uncles were hunters, and they always looked forward to their forays into Michigan’s Upper Peninsula during deer hunting season. But while I was well aware of their activities, they never brought their guns into our house. So I never gave any thought to gun safety issues, even after I became a nurse—not even after caring for one memorable patient, a young man my own age who had been accidentally shot by a companion during a hunting trip.

What can nurses do?

“…a child finds an unlocked loaded gun and accidentally shoots themselves or someone nearby, a despondent teenager makes a rash decision to end their life with the family gun, a homeowner mistakes a family member for an intruder.”

It seems that we read about tragedies like these every day. Can nurses help prevent them? The American Academy of Nursing has recommended that health care professionals “assume a greater role in preventing firearm injuries by health screening.”

In “Nurses’ Knowledge and Comfort with Assessing Inpatients’ Firearm Access and Providing Education on Safe Gun Storage” in the September issue of AJN, Kimberly Smith Sheppard and colleagues report on their original research study, which examined nurses’ knowledge and comfort with assessing patients’ access to […]

Betsy Todd, MPH, RN2020-10-05T10:43:01-04:00October 5th, 2020|Nursing, nursing research, Public health|0 Comments

Staying Away, Reaching Out: Offering Parents Support During the Pandemic

The ‘circuit breaker.’

Image by Wokandapix from Pixabay

I brace myself as I look over the names printed on my patient list. Our developmental pediatric unit has started an initiative to call our more vulnerable families during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chan J. DOB: 12/10/2001. As I scan the electronic notes, I learn that mum is the main caregiver of not one but two boys with autism spectrum disorder who require a high level of support. They both usually attend special school, but the school is currently closed because of social distancing measures. We are in lockdown, or ‘circuit breaker’ as we call it in Singapore, and both children have been at home for the past three weeks. My heart sinks in anticipation as I punch in the numbers.

“Hello,” a voice hesitates at the other end.

“Good morning, Mrs. Chan,” I say, putting on a cheery tone. “My name is Jia Yi and I am a nurse from the child development unit. We are checking in with our families and I wonder if you have some time to speak with me?”

“What about?” This mother sounds tired.

“Oh, just checking in on how you are getting on and whether there is anything we can do to help.”

‘”It’s hard,” she says. I […]

Guest Author2020-10-01T10:18:14-04:00October 1st, 2020|Nursing, nursing stories|0 Comments

October Issue Highlights: Data on RN Suicides, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Starting a Research Project, More

“As a nurse, I believe in science as a guide for our actions….As a human being with morals, empathy, and compassion, I believe there are lines no person, certainly no government leader, should cross.”—editor-in-chief Shawn Kennedy in her editorial, “No Time for Silence”

The October issue of AJN is now live. Here are some highlights.

Original Research: Suicide Among RNs: An Analysis of 2015 Data from the National Violent Death Reporting System

The authors of this study sought to determine the number of suicides and estimated rate of suicide among RNs. Their findings indicate that RNs may die by suicide at higher rates than the total employed population in the 16-to-64-year age range.

From the CDC: Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder

An evidence-based review of the risk factors for autism spectrum disorder, its epidemiology, common concurrent conditions, evaluation, diagnosis, treatments, and outcomes.

New Series: Nursing Research, Step by Step: How Does Research Start?

This article—the first in a new series on clinical research by nurses—focuses on how to start the research process by identifying a topic of interest and developing a well-defined research question.

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Diane Szulecki, editor2020-09-28T08:47:02-04:00September 28th, 2020|Nursing|1 Comment

A Nursing Perspective on Addressing Racism and Health Inequities

Editor’s note: We’ve all witnessed the recent public outcry against instances of racist behavior and brutality. As nurses, we also witness the toll racism takes on health as well as the racial inequities in access to care and within health care institutions. In the below blog post, AJN senior editor Corinne McSpedon excerpts her recent conversation about these topics with Monica McLemore. I also encourage you to listen to the recent webinar, Nursing’s Role in Addressing Racism, in which a panel of nurses address structural racism, how it prevents health equity, and what actions one can take to change or influence change. You can earn one contact hour of CNE credit.—Maureen Shawn Kennedy, AJN editor-in-chief

Confronting racism during the pandemic.

Over the summer, I spoke with Monica McLemore, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, to discuss antiracism efforts amid the COVID-19 crisis and the nationwide demonstrations against police brutality. McLemore is an associate professor in the Department of Family Health Care Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco, where she is also affiliated with the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health. She previously worked for nearly three decades as a public health and staff nurse.