During Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Two Articles Examine Actions Nurses Can Take

Two articles in this month’s issue will increase nurses’ awareness of the realities of domestic violence and point to ways they can respond.

A school nurse and women’s advocate.

“Every year, I have mothers of students who are experiencing domestic violence. I see parents and children who are affected by this issue. It’s our job as nurses to see problems and to try to identify causes, trends, and possible solutions.”

The above quote is from Dawn Wilcox, BSN, RN, who was speaking in her capacity as an elementary school nurse, noting that violence against women is a preventable public health issue, one she regularly encounters in her nursing practice.

Wilcox, who I interviewed for this month’s Profile, is also the creator of the United States Femicide Database, accessible on the website of her organization, Women Count USA. It’s the only such catalog of vital details about the women and girls killed by men and boys each year in the United States.

In the article, Wilcox provides practical tips for nurses who are unsure of how to address discrimination, harassment, and violence toward women and girls. For additional information, listen to our discussion on AJN’s Behind the Article podcast.

Asking questions.

In “When ‘Love’ = Death,” […]

2019-10-16T11:43:24-04:00October 16th, 2019|Nursing, Public health|0 Comments
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Infections in Acute Care: Still More to Do

A sharply increased focus on hospital-acquired infections (HAIs).

This month marks the 14th anniversary of the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), the CDC’s data repository for health care–associated infections. Since 2005, when a limited number of hospitals began reporting infections data, the health care community has sharply increased its focus on the prevention, early recognition, and treatment of infections in the hospital. Research on risk factors, closer attention to limiting device use (urinary catheters, central lines), and support for meticulous hand hygiene and environmental cleaning protocols have decreased rates of CAUTIs, CLABSIs, and surgical site infections.

The risk is always there.

Still, as nurses well know, hospitalized patients remain at increased risk for developing infections, especially if they are immunosuppressed or have diabetes, need invasive devices, have many comorbidities, or stay in a critical care unit.

The current evidence reviewed.

In “Infection in Acute Care: Evidence for Practice” in this month’s AJN, Douglas Houghton reviews the latest evidence on common infections in acute care settings, including community- and hospital-acquired pneumonia, surgical site infections, and C. difficile. […]

2019-10-09T10:09:54-04:00October 9th, 2019|infection control, Nursing|1 Comment
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Multistate Outbreak of Life-Threatening Pulmonary Disease Amid E-Cigarette Use

Health officials are investigating an outbreak of severe pulmonary disease this summer that appears to be linked to the use of e-cigarettes, or vaping. One person has died, and many others have been hospitalized with a variety of symptoms in the days and weeks after they reported vaping. As of late August, 215 possible cases of e-cigarette–associated pulmonary disease have been reported in 25 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Unknown Cause

On Friday, the agency released a Health Advisory that provides information about e-cigarette products, updated details about the outbreak, and recommendations for clinicians, public health officials, and the public.

Health officials noted that respiratory (cough, shortness of breath, chest pain), gastrointestinal (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea), or nonspecific constitutional (fatigue, fever, or weight loss) symptoms have been occurring in otherwise healthy people, many in their teens or 20s, since June.

The exact cause of the outbreak is unknown, but reports point to a common factor: e-cigarette products were reportedly used by those affected. Many, but not all, patients reported that they’d used tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and other cannabinoid products. The CDC, along with the Food and Drug Administration and local and state health departments, continues to investigate the cause of the outbreak.

[…]

2019-09-06T10:38:59-04:00September 5th, 2019|Nursing, Public health|0 Comments
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‘An Epidemic Transformed’: Where Are We With HIV Today?

“I wasn’t supposed to be here,” [the patient said] to the nurse as he watched the last few drops of his chemotherapy drug infuse into the port implanted in his chest… The nurse caring for him smiled while preparing to disconnect his IV tubing and flush the port….   What distinguished [this patient] from the nurse’s other patients was that he had been living with HIV for 32 years.”

At the very beginning of the HIV epidemic, a friend of mine worked on one of the first HIV units in New York City. The nursing staff followed Standard Precautions in their work with these patients, as we do today. They weren’t particularly concerned about risk to themselves, because it was already clear that this disease—as little as we knew about it then—was not easily transmitted to caregivers.

Remembering fear.

Yet many who worked in other parts of the hospital were not convinced of this. One of my friend’s stories always stayed with me: She relayed how dietary staff would take the elevator to the HIV unit, shove the meal cart out of the elevators into the elevator lobby, and quickly step back into the elevator and close the doors. Many times the nursing staff […]

2019-09-03T10:06:59-04:00September 3rd, 2019|infectious diseases, Nursing, Public health|0 Comments
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A Roundup of Women’s Health Issues

Is it Women’s Health Month? Not according to the calendar. But as you browse through this month’s issue of AJN, you may indeed get the impression that we decided to focus on women’s health for the month of August.

This month’s Viewpoint, by Julie Michelle Haracz, “Making OTC Oral Contraceptives Available for All Women,” reminds us that “No woman should have to wait months for an appointment to see a physician, travel long distances, or pay more than she can afford to prevent an unintended pregnancy.” Haracz notes that oral contraceptives already are available over the counter in more than 100 other countries.

In the news: quick takes and closer looks.

Our August news section is filled with stories of particular importance to women. Our reporters cover the flurry of recent state laws that would significantly limit a women’s ability to obtain an abortion (all facing court challenges), an interesting UK study showing that a single dose of antibiotic after forceps-assisted or vacuum-assisted births reduced the incidence of infection, and sobering new CDC statistics suggesting that 60% of U.S. pregnancy-related deaths are preventable.

Did you know that suicide is the second-leading cause of death among young people in the U.S.? Sadly, the rate of suicide among girls ages 10 to 14 is rising, narrowing the gap between rates rates for boys and girls.

Some positives.

2019-08-12T10:32:32-04:00August 12th, 2019|Nursing, Public health, women's health|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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