“Nurses and midwives together constitute half of the global health workforce, and by declaring 2020 the ‘Year of the Nurse and Midwife,’ the World Health Organization is recognizing their critical roles in achieving global health goals.”—editor-in-chief Shawn Kennedy in her editorial, “Putting 2019 Behind Us”

With the new year upon us, the January issue of AJN is now live. Here are the highlights:

CE: Original Research: The Recruitment Experience of Foreign-Educated Health Professionals to the United States

The authors discuss the current state of international recruitment and report on the findings of their study of foreign-educated health professionals and recruiters to further illuminate the recruitment experience.

CE: Assessing and Managing Spiritual Distress in Cancer Survivorship

This article describes the concept of spiritual distress and illustrates how nurses can incorporate into practice evidence-based recommendations for addressing cancer survivors’ spiritual needs.

Back to Basics: Concentration and Volume: Understanding Sodium and Water in the Body

This is the first article in a new series designed to improve nurses’ understanding of the physiological abnormalities underlying many disorders. Here, the author reviews the common etiologies and symptoms of hyponatremia and hypernatremia.

Supporting Family Caregivers: No Longer Home Alone: Urinary Incontinence in Older Adults

One in a series published in collaboration with the AARP Public Policy Institute, this article reviews the assessment and management of urinary incontinence—a common problem for older adults.

Book of the Year Awards 2019

The most valuable texts of the year, as chosen by AJN’s panel of judges.

There’s much more in our January issue, including:

  • Our annual Year in Review, a close look at the top health care, nursing, and clinical news stories of 2019.
  • A Viewpoint on prevention versus intervention in obstetric care.
  • An AJN Reports on the Year of the Nurse and Midwife.

Click here to browse the table of contents and explore the issue on our website.

A note on the cover:

This month’s cover celebrates the start of 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and Midwife—a designation made by the World Health Organization (WHO) to honor and advocate for these two essential professions. The photo collage highlights nursing and midwifery practice across settings.