Public health Archives - Page 41 of 75

On the 15th Anniversary of 9/11, Lingering Pain

Skywards by aussiegall / Louise Docker, via Flickr.

Yesterday was the 15th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. On my way to work in Manhattan on Friday, I listened to a radio program about the lives of some of those who were involved one way or another in the tragedy of that day.

I heard the shaky voice of a Boston airport ticket agent who had assisted one of the hijackers to get on one of the flights that struck the World Trade Center. He’s met some of the victims’ family members and say that he still feels tremendous guilt and suffers from bouts of depression, especially on anniversary dates. He now works for Homeland Security. […]

Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN, FAAN, editor-in-chief (emerita)2016-11-21T13:00:58-05:00September 12th, 2016|nursing perspective, Public health|0 Comments

To Boldly Go . . . In Search of Nurses

By Beth Toner, MJ, RN, senior communications officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Nurse Christine Chapel, original Star Trek series/via Wikipedia

Inaccurate Representations in Popular Culture

Many critics and fans delighted in the release of the “reboot” Star Trek in 2009; the film, after all, breathed new life into the franchise, and introduced a whole new generation to its beloved characters—including Kirk, Spock, and the inimitable Dr. McCoy, better known as ‘Bones.’ A lifelong Trekker (I was born just weeks after the series launched in 1966), I was delighted, too. Yet I was exasperated at the notable invisibility of a minor recurring character: Nurse Christine Chapel.

Many of you may be asking: “Really? What does a fictional science fiction nurse have to do with real, professional nurses?”

Symptom of Broader Invisibility

The lack of emphasis placed on Nurse Chapel’s character is symptomatic of what I believe is a larger problem: the absence of nurses’ voices in key positions—not just in pop culture, but more importantly in boardrooms, community and nonprofit organizations, and in policy making. Furthermore, where nurses are present, there is a general misunderstanding of what it is nurses do every day—and how our presence is vital to building a society in which all have the […]

Guest Author2016-11-21T13:00:58-05:00September 8th, 2016|Nursing, nursing perspective, Public health|1 Comment

Information for Nurses Who Help in Disasters

Nurses are often at the front lines of disaster response. How prepared are nurses—and the hospitals and other facilities where they may work?

Louisiana National Guard, Baton Rouge River Center, Aug 15, 2016, after flooding pushed residents from homes. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Garrett L. Dipuma/RELEASED)

The television news reports have recently been full of the devastating flooding in Louisiana. Especially heart-wrenching are the images of people, especially frail […]

Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN, FAAN, editor-in-chief (emerita)2016-11-21T13:01:01-05:00August 22nd, 2016|Nursing, Public health|0 Comments

Former Navy Nurse Raises Awareness About the Lingering Effects of Agent Orange

Susan Schnall and a group of children at Tu Du Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, in 2008.

On August 10, 1961, the United States military first sprayed Agent Orange, a defoliant containing a particularly toxic dioxin compound, in Vietnam. Fifty-five years later, the effects of this and other chemicals linger on. And 48 years after former naval nurse Susan Schnall was court-martialed for protesting the Vietnam War, she visited Vietnam for the first time and witnessed these effects firsthand.

“In all my years in health care, I have never seen children with such severe birth defects,” Schnall said during an interview with AJN. After her court-martial, Schnall went on to have a successful 30-year career in hospital administration. After retiring and visiting Vietnam, she decided she needed to do something about what she witnessed there.

Schnall joined a group called the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign, made up of American Vietnam Veterans, Vietnamese Americans, social activists, and community leaders. The group aims to educate the public on the repercussions of the chemical warfare used in Southeast Asia […]

Amy M. Collins, managing editor2016-11-21T13:01:01-05:00August 15th, 2016|nursing perspective, nursing stories, Public health|0 Comments

Is It Time to Retire the Term ‘Midlevel Practitioner’?

What are the implications of calling advanced practice nurses “midlevel practitioners”? According to Rachel Scherzer, a nurse educator and critical care nurse, such a term pigeonholes APNs in an implied (and disproven) hierarchy of value and quality of care rather than in relation to specific competencies and expertise.

In the Viewpoint essay in the July issue of AJN, Scherzer describes some of the reasons why such terms aren’t just inaccurate, they damage the standing of the profession:

Policymakers use the term while developing health care policy, health care economists use it when reporting data and performing cost analyses, and other health care providers use it in the clinical setting. . . . This term is both diminutive and inaccurate, implying that these professionals cannot provide the same level of care as other members of the interprofessional care team. Referring to APNs as “midlevel” practitioners contributes to a general misunderstanding of their role and of the services they provide.

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