Photo via Flickr / Luis Marina

Each January, AJN takes a close look at the most noteworthy health care–related news of the past year, from general health stories and policy to specific nursing and clinical issues. Which stories stood out in 2019? Here’s a rundown:

Health care news

  • Negative trends intensify for key measures of population health and access to care. As life expectancy declines again in the United States, signaling a three-year trend, the Affordable Care Act remains under threat from GOP-sponsored litigation; children have been losing coverage; new work requirements and paperwork barriers are undercutting Medicaid coverage gains; and rising drug costs are in the spotlight.
  • Cyberattacks and hospital data security. Health care organizations’ cybersecurity spending lags behind that of other industries.
  • A changing climate. As environmental protections are weakened or rolled back, new research details the significant and long-lasting health consequences of climate change.
  • Women’s reproductive health. The U.S. maternal mortality rate continues to rise, and several states have passed legislation to curtail abortion access.
  • Society in distress. In 2019, Americans experienced the public health consequences of political discord, poverty, and unaddressed social needs, as magnified by the crisis at the border and rising rates of gun violence and homelessness.

Nursing news

  • Workplace violence issues and the criminalization of medical errors both make headlines.
  • A National Academy of Medicine report addresses clinician burnout and suicide.
  • The upward trend in nurses with baccalaureates continues.

Read about these nursing stories here. 

Clinical news

  • Measles outbreaks persist throughout 2019.
  • Vaping causes lung injuries, deaths.
  • Multipronged efforts toward reducing opioid overdose mortality appear to be helping.
  • The National Institute of Mental Health says that 13.3% of adolescents ages 12 to 17 experience a major depressive episode each year.
  • San Antonio, Texas, becomes the first major city to use whole blood in the pre-hospital setting throughout its regional trauma network.

Read about these clinical stories here. 

Visit www.ajnonline.com for more news, and also see our predictions for stories to watch in 2020.