Women’s History Month: Nurses Started What?

Lillian Wald and other notable nurse pioneers, 1923The first paragraph of Maureen Shawn Kennedy’s editorial in the March issue of AJN, “Securing Our Place in History,” ends with a thought-provoking suggestion:

In 1980, after realizing that women were largely missing from the history books, a group of women formed the National Women’s History Project . . . and, in 1987, were successful in getting Congress to designate the month of March as Women’s History Month. . . .This year’s theme, “Weaving the Stories of Women’s Lives,” reflects the . . . tenet that “ [k]nowing women’s achievements challenges stereotypes and upends social assumptions about who women are and what women can accomplish today.” One might substitute the word nurses for women in this statement.

Public health nursing, school nurses, hospice, and many other crucial areas of health care today began with the efforts of nurses. Noting the many accomplishments of Lillian Wald, Lavinia Dock, Annie Goodrich, M. Adelaide Nutting, and the other nurses in the 1923 group photo on our March cover, shown as they gathered to celebrate the opening of the new headquarters of the Henry Street Visiting Nurse Service, Kennedy urges nurses today to learn about this tradition and to envision how they can carry it forward:

“The story of […]

2016-11-21T13:02:53-05:00March 11th, 2015|career, Nursing, nursing perspective|0 Comments
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AJN in March: Post-ICU Syndrome, Workplace Conflict Resolution, Prostate Cancer Options, More

AJN0315.Cover.OnlineAJN’s March issue is now available on our Web site. Here’s a selection of what not to miss.

New program for postintensive care syndrome (PICS). With increased ICU survival rates, we are seeing more complex cognitive, physical, and psychological sequelae. The authors of “Critical Care Recovery Center: An Innovative Collaborative Care Model for ICU Survivors” share how they created and implemented an evidence-based collaborative care program for ICU survivors to reduce morbidities that can affect their quality of life. This CE feature offers 2.5 CE credits to those who take the test that follows the article.

Helping men with localized prostate cancer make informed decisions. The information men receive at diagnosis of prostate cancer can be overwhelming. “Early Localized Prostate Cancer” reviews the multiple treatment options available for men with newly diagnosed, low-risk, localized prostate cancer and explains how nurses can help these men make informed decisions. This CE feature offers 2.5 CE credits to those who take the test that follows the article.

Further explore this topic by listening to a podcast interview with the author (this and other free podcasts are accessible via the Behind the Article podcasts page on our Web site, in our iPad app, or on iTunes). […]

2016-11-21T13:02:56-05:00February 27th, 2015|career, Nursing, nursing perspective, nursing research, patient engagement|0 Comments
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Tips for Getting a Nursing Job Interview in the Age of Electronic Applications

Illustration by the author

Julianna Paradisi, RN, OCN, is an oncology nurse navigator and writes a monthly post for this blog. The illustration is by the author.

Twenty-plus years ago I was job hunting in Portland, without a local connection in health care. Prepared with an Oregon nursing license, I applied for the only two open pediatric ICU positions in the city, found in newspaper want ads. The positions were in the same unit. Having several years of PICU experience, I was hopeful that I’d get an interview.

Two weeks went by without a phone call for an interview. Worse, I noticed that only one of the postings remained. With nothing to lose, I called the hospital’s human resources department.

“Hi, I applied for the positions of pediatric intensive care nurse at your hospital,” I said. “I see that one has been filled. I have seven years of experience, including transport of critically ill children, and PALS certification. I’m curious if there’s a reason I haven’t been offered an interview? I know if the manager meets me, she’ll love me.”

“I’ll look up your application, and get back to you,” was the response. Half an hour later, the PICU nurse manager called to set up an interview. “I’m sorry,” she explained. “Your application didn’t make it to my desk. Apparently it was misplaced by HR.”

I was hired at the interview, and held […]

2016-11-21T13:02:56-05:00February 26th, 2015|career, healthcare social media, Nursing, nursing perspective|2 Comments
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Strong Nurse and Patient Voices On the Blogs This Week

By Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor

Photo by mezone, via Flickr. Photo by mezone, via Flickr.

Here’s a short Friday list of recent smart, honest, informative blog posts by nurses, as well as a couple of interesting patient perspectives on prominent types of chronic illness and the ways they are talked about by the rest of us.

At Head Nurse, in “Yes…No. I’m Having Some Thoughts About BSNs,” an ADN-prepared nurse makes some familiar and some more surprising observations about the effects of the new policy of hiring mostly BSN-prepared nurses at her facility as it tries for Magnet status. For example, one of the effects she notes is “a massive drop-off in terms of the diversity of our nursing staff.” The move toward BSNs is obviously the trend in nursing, and is supported by research, but this doesn’t mean that there aren’t still two sides to the issue, or real unintended consequences to address as this change is gradually implemented.

At Hospice Diary, the blog of hospice nurse Amy Getter, there’s a post called “Hearts, Flowers, and Bucket Lists.” Reflecting on the imminent death of a patient, the author puts the popular notion of bucket lists into perspective:

“I think about some of the things I would still like […]

2016-11-21T13:02:58-05:00February 20th, 2015|career, healthcare social media, nursing perspective|0 Comments
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AJN in February: Rapid Response Teams, Complications of CHD Repair, Managing Type 2 Diabetes, More

AJN0215 Cover OnlineAJN’s February issue is now available on our Web site. Here’s a selection of what not to miss.

Rapid response teams (RRTs) are teams of expert providers who can be called on in an emergency to treat patients before their condition deteriorates. The success of an RRT depends on whether it is activated properly, a task that often falls to staff nurses. The original research article, “Hospital System Barriers to Rapid Response Team Activation: A Cognitive Work Analysis,” describes the factors affecting nurses’ decisions to activate RRTs. This CE feature offers 3 CE credits to those who take the test that follows the article.

Further explore this topic by listening to a podcast interview with the author (this and other free podcasts are accessible via the Behind the Article podcasts page on our Web site, in our iPad app, or on iTunes).

Long-term complications after congenital heart defect (CHD) repair. Nurses often encounter patients with complications that occurred years after CHD repair. “Long-Term Outcomes After Repair of Congenital Heart Disease: Part 2” reviews four common CHDs, their repairs, common long-term outcomes, and implications for nurses in both cardiac and noncardiac settings. This article offers 2.5 CE credits to those who take the test that follows the article.

Making nurses full partners in reforming health care. The Institute of Medicine’s report, The […]

2016-11-21T13:03:07-05:00January 29th, 2015|career, Nursing, nursing perspective|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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