A Lasting Gift for a Nurse’s Holiday Shifts and Lost Family Time

Illustration by Lisa Dietrich for AJN. Illustration by Lisa Dietrich for AJN.

As we know, gifts come in many forms, and often are as valuable to the giver as to the receiver. The best ones come at times when we least expect them. Readers will find that the start of AJN‘s December Reflections essay, “A Change of Heart,” describes a frustration that may be familiar to many nurses. In this case, it’s Christmas Day, and a nurse is kept by the urgent demands of her job from spending time with family. She writes:

I’ve been a nurse for more than half of my life . . . I love my career and consider myself blessed to have found my calling. But we all experience times when our long hours and the rigorous demands of this job make us feel that we sacrifice too much of our personal and family time to care for strangers.

The author had planned to be home for Christmas dinner. But, she tells us, “we had four back-to-back emergency CABGs starting at 8 am and stretching long past my scheduled 3 pm end of shift.” The essay develops from there as the hours pass. And then we meet a patient with everything at stake. The author is not the only one in danger of missing Christmas with family, and not just this year but for all the years to come.

We are reminded again and again that nursing has […]

2016-11-21T13:03:19-05:00December 19th, 2014|career, Nursing, nursing perspective|3 Comments
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Nurses at Center Stage: AJN’s Top 10 Blog Posts of 2014

By Jacob Molyneux, AJN senior editor/blog editor

Scanning electron micrograph of filamentous Ebola virus particles budding from an infected VERO E6 cell (35,000x magnification). Credit: NIAID Filamentous Ebola virus particles budding from an infected VERO E6 cell (35,000x magnification). Credit: NIAID

It’s unsurprising that some of our top blog posts this past year were about Ebola virus disease. But it’s worth noting that our clinical editor Betsy Todd, who is also an epidemiologist, cut through the misinformation and noise about Ebola very early on—at a time when many thoughtful people still seemed ill informed about the illness and its likely spread in the U.S.

Ebola is scary in itself, but fear was also spread by media coverage, some politicians, and, for a while, a tone-deaf CDC too reliant on absolutes in its attempts to reassure the public.

While the most dire predictions have not come true here in the U.S., it’s also true that a lot of work has gone into keeping Ebola from getting a foothold. A lot of people in health care have put themselves at risk to make this happen, doing so at first in an atmosphere of radical uncertainty about possible modes of transmission (uncertainty stoked in part by successive explanations offered as to how the nurses treating Thomas […]

2016-11-21T13:03:21-05:00December 12th, 2014|career, healthcare social media, infectious diseases, Nursing, nursing perspective|1 Comment
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Patient Safety, Patient Advocacy: In Pediatric Nursing, A Tricky Balance

Julianna Paradisi, RN, OCN, writes a monthly post for this blog and works as an infusion nurse in outpatient oncology.

CT Scan ink and watercolor on paper 2014 by jparadisi CT Scan ink and watercolor on paper 2014 by jparadisi

I was precepting a new nurse. She’d earned a job in our PICU during her student clinical rotation. New grads weren’t routinely hired, but her competency led to her recruitment. Precepting her was a joy.

This particular shift, we were assigned one of those midafternoon admissions with the potential to keep us overtime: rule out meningitis. The preschool-aged patient had been brought to the ED after having a first-time seizure. When he reached the PICU, however, we were relieved that he presented more like a febrile seizure.

Besides a fever and runny nose, the only other remarkable characteristic about the child was his utterly charming personality. We drew his labs while starting an IV. An antibiotic infusion was started, and acetaminophen administered. Feeling better, and not the least postictal, he played with our stethoscopes.

This was many years ago. There were standards in place that accompanied certain diagnoses. ‘Rule out meningitis’ came with a CAT scan and lumbar puncture.

Both seemed excessive, given the child’s presentation, but there was the order for CAT scan. He sat upright in his crib singing, as […]

2016-11-21T13:03:24-05:00December 3rd, 2014|career, Nursing, nursing perspective, Patients|3 Comments
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Counting Your Blessings

By Maureen Shawn Kennedy, AJN editor-in-chief

A perhaps idealized past: 'Home for Thanksgiving,' Currier and Ives lithograph/Wikimedia Commons A perhaps idealized past: ‘Home for Thanksgiving,’ Currier and Ives lithograph/Wikimedia Commons

At the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S., it’s customary to take some time to reflect on our good fortune—to give thanks for what we have. For many of us, it means being thankful for family and good health. But what about all the other people who may make a difference in how we live our lives, who make the world in which we live better or in some indirect way have had an impact on what we do, how we do it, how we feel about life or our work?

Here are some folks I’d like to thank:

2016-11-21T13:03:29-05:00November 26th, 2014|career, infectious diseases, Nursing, nursing perspective|0 Comments
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Widespread Support for Nurse’s Refusal to Force-Feed: Grounded in Ethical Principles

By Maureen Shawn Kennedy, AJN editor-in-chief

Nasal tubes, gravity feeding bags, and the liquid nutrient Ensure used in Guantanamo force-feeding/ image via Wikimedia Commons Nasal tubes, gravity feeding bags, liquid nutrient Ensure used in Guantanamo force-feeding/Wikimedia Commons

Last week, reports hit the news media of a nurse in the U.S. Navy facing possible discharge for refusing to participate in force-feeding a hunger-striking prisoner at Guantanamo Bay. An early discharge, two years shy of the 20-year mark, could cost him his pension and other benefits.

The nurse had initially volunteered for duty at the Guantanamo facility, but then, as we noted in a blog post examining the ethics of his decision back in July, decided he could not continue to participate in force-feeding detainees in violation of professional ethics.

In a letter to Chuck Hagel, U.S. secretary of defense, the American Nurses Association has supported the decision of the naval nurse. ANA president Pam Cipriano reaffirms that a nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient and “in addition, this commitment is present regardless of the setting in which nursing care is provided. The military setting does not change the nurse’s ethical commitments or standards.” […]

2016-11-21T13:03:29-05:00November 24th, 2014|career, Ethics, Nursing, nursing perspective, Patients|2 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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