“. . . there is no underestimating the power of meaning to bolster individuals and the power of meaninglessness to sap them of the will to go on.”—Henry Bair, author of the March Reflections column, “Waiting for Jerry”

The March issue of AJN is now live! Here are the highlights:

Original Research: Arthritis-Related Functional Limitations and Inadequate Physical Activity Among Female Adult Cancer Survivors

This study uses data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to examine the extent to which functional limitations due to arthritis are predictive of low physical activity levels in female cancer survivors.

CE: Brain Death: History, Updates, and Implications for Nurses

The authors review the development of brain death criteria, describe recent controversies and criteria updates, and discuss considerations for nurses who care for patients declared dead by neurologic criteria.

Mirror Therapy in the Management of Phantom Limb Pain

A case study of how mirror therapy and online counseling with a pain management nurse reduced one patient’s phantom limb pain following a traumatic transhumeral amputation.

Standardizing the Frequency of Neurologic Assessment After Acute Stroke

The authors of this Cultivating Quality article describe a nurse-led QI project that set a standard minimum frequency for nurses to complete the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale assessment across a multisite health care system.

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

  • A Update from the CDC on a new initiative to end the HIV epidemic in the United States.
  • A Nursing Resources column on the Community Guide, an online collection of evidence-based recommendations for preventive health.
  • An AJN Reports on how nurses can use design thinking to solve workplace challenges.

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

A note on the cover:

On this month’s cover is a scene from an American Red Cross shelter in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence in September 2018. Here Yuki, a Red Cross nurse on deployment from Colorado, talks with a shelter resident to ensure that her wheelchair is properly documented as a personal asset. March is Red Cross Month—an annual event during which the organization honors the “everyday heroes” who help support its mission to alleviate the suffering caused by disasters and emergencies.