AJN in December: Inside an Ebola Unit, Acupressure, Early Mobility, EHRs, More

AJN1215.Cover.OnlineOn this month’s cover, nurse Elie Kasindi Kabululu cares for a patient at Centre Médical Evangélique in Nyankunde, Beni, Democratic Republic of Congo. Originally, this location served a population of 150,000 and also housed a nursing school; but in 2002, during war in the region, the facility was attacked. About 1,000 people were killed—including patients and staff—and the center was looted and destroyed.

Providing medical assistance in the world’s war-torn and neediest areas is commonplace for health care providers like Kabululu, just as it is for humanitarian organizations such as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which works in 70 countries worldwide—nearly half of these in Africa. Shortly after the recent outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, MSF sent close to 300 international workers to help combat this public health emergency. To read one nurse’s experience traveling to Liberia for MSF to work in a treatment center, see “Inside an Ebola Treatment Unit: A Nurse’s Report.”

Some other articles of note in the December issue:

Original Research: “Implementation of an Early Mobility Program in an ICU.” This article, from our Cultivating Quality column, recounts how the effects of an early mobilization program delivered to critically ill patients at a community hospital by an independent ICU mobility team contributed to fewer delirium days and improvements in patient outcomes, sedation levels, and functional status.

CE Feature: “Incorporating Acupressure into Nursing Practice.” The effects of acupressure can’t always be explained in terms of Western anatomical […]

2016-11-21T13:01:42-05:00November 30th, 2015|infectious diseases|0 Comments
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Top Health Story Picks of AJN Contributing Editors for 2015

By Diane Szulecki, AJN associate editor

Kelley Johnson by Disney | ABC Television Group via Flickr Nurse and Miss America contestant Kelley Johnson by Disney | ABC Television Group via Flickr

With the end of the year steadily approaching, AJN asked its contributing editors, editorial board members, and staff to share what they consider to be the most significant health care and nursing-related headlines of 2015 so far. Now it’s readers’ turn. See the top picks below and feel free to leave a comment to share your thoughts and additions to the list.

Clinical/Care Issues

  • The growing patient experience movement and the limitations of patient satisfaction measurements
  • The rise in chronic diseases due to lack of prevention efforts and unhealthy lifestyles
  • Substance abuse, including alcohol, prescription drugs, heroin
  • Vaccinations and issues regarding public trust of vaccines

Professional Issues

  • Nurses’ responses to critical comments made on The View and related ongoing discussion about the nursing profession’s image
  • Challenges and trends in nursing education: the shift toward advanced practice as a career path for many nurses and rapid growth in the number of DNP programs and applicants
  • Workplace stresses: staffing issues, moral distress, strain caused by an aging population with multiple comorbidities, plus an increase in the number of insured due to the Affordable Care Act

U.S Health Care and Health System Issues

2016-11-21T13:01:46-05:00November 19th, 2015|career, infectious diseases, Nursing, nursing perspective, Patients|0 Comments
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Ebola, One Year Later: What We Learned for the Next Big Epidemic

By Betsy Todd, MPH, RN, CIC, AJN clinical editor

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

U.S. hospitals have not seen a case of Ebola virus disease since November 11, 2014, when Dr. Craig Spencer was discharged from Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City. While the number of new infections has declined dramatically in the West African countries where the 2014–2015 epidemic began, it is virtually certain that the disease will continue to resurface.

This epidemic was by far the largest and most geographically widespread Ebola epidemic to date, with approximately 28,000 cases (suspected, probable, or confirmed) and more than 11,000 deaths in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, the three hardest-hit countries. The seven other countries affected account for a combined total of 34 confirmed (and two probable) cases and 15 deaths.

According to a recent WHO report, these numbers include (through March of this year) 815 confirmed or probable cases among health care workers, more than half of whom were nurses or nurses’ aides. (Doctors and medical students made up about 12% of […]

2016-11-21T13:01:48-05:00November 6th, 2015|healthcare social media, infectious diseases, Nursing, nursing perspective|11 Comments
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Sexually Transmitted Infections in the U.S.: Updates and a Nurse’s Guide

By Sylvia Foley, AJN senior editor

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are the most common infectious diseases in the United States, with an estimated national prevalence of 110 million cases. More than 20 million people are infected annually. Last June, the Centers for Disease Control, std screening services, OC and Prevention (CDC) issued updated treatment guidelines.

The CDC's 2015 Treatment Guidelines boxIn their September CE article “Sexually Transmitted Infections in the United States: Overview and Update,” authors Hayley Mark and Amit Dhir provide nurses with a closer look at the symptoms, screening methods, and means of treatment for the six most common STIs: human papillomavirus, herpes simplex virus, trichomoniasis, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. They also describe the most recent relevant findings and treatment recommendations. As they note,

STIs have enormous human consequences, including severe reproductive complications, neonatal injury, and death; and because STIs are associated with social stigma, they also have substantial psychological impact. The economic consequences are also enormous: it’s estimated that STIs cost the nation about $16 billion in annual health care costs. All communities are affected, although significant racial, ethnic, and other disparities persist. Nurses play a critical role in educating patients on STIs, screening for disease, and providing treatment. Nurses can also help minimize the impact of social stigma by providing informed, confidential, and sensitive care, and by promoting sexual health.

Recent developments. The article specifically addresses such matters as

2017-07-27T14:37:50-04:00September 18th, 2015|infectious diseases, Nursing|1 Comment
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AJN in September: Pain Management in Opioid Use Disorder, STIs in the U.S., Teaching Vs. Unit Needs

AJN0915.Cover.OnlineOn this month’s cover, perianesthesia nurse Carolyn Benigno helps prepare a young patient for surgery at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC. The photo, the first-place winner of AJN’s 2015 Faces of Caring: Nurses at Work photo contest, shows Benigno practicing “Caring through Play.” The art of working at a pediatric hospital, she says, is “learning how to play with children so that part of your nursing care is play.” Such play can both distract a child in the moment and help the child cope with the disorienting experience of hospitalization.

For another piece on how nurses try to make hospitalization less stressful for children, see this month’s Cultivating Quality article, “Improving Pediatric Temperature Measurement in the ED.”

Some other articles of note in the September issue:

CE Feature: “Acute Pain Management for Inpatients with Opioid Use Disorder.” Inpatients diagnosed with opioid use disorder (OUD) commonly experience acute pain during hospitalization and may require opioids for pain management. But misconceptions about opioids and negative attitudes toward patients with OUD may lead to undermedication, unrelieved pain, and unnecessary suffering. This article reviews the current relevant literature and dispels common myths about opioids and OUD. […]

2016-11-21T13:02:02-05:00September 2nd, 2015|career, Ethics, infectious diseases, Nursing, nursing perspective|1 Comment
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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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