“Nursing students are the future of nursing. Treating them with anything less than respect, support, and nurturing is unacceptable and unprofessional.” —John Burkley, MSN, RN, author of this month’s Viewpoint

The May issue of AJN is now live. Here are some of the articles we’re pleased to have a chance to publish this month.

CE: Original Research: Exploring Clinicians’ Perceptions About Sustaining an Evidence-Based Fall Prevention Program

Although hospitals have made extensive efforts to reduce patient falls through evidence-based fall prevention programs, sustaining such programs has proven challenging. This qualitative study addresses the knowledge gap between implementing and sustaining evidence-based fall prevention practices for hospitalized patients.

CE: A Review of Current Practice in Transfusion Therapy

The authors review the blood products that are commonly transfused, discuss the potential complications of transfusion—including TACO, TRALI, and TRIM—and outline current recommendations for transfusion therapy.

Special Feature: Assisted Suicide/Aid in Dying: What Is the Nurse’s Role?

This article presents the panel discussion that occurred during a policy dialogue on aid in dying (AID) at the American Academy of Nursing’s annual conference in 2016. The discussion explored the arguments for and against the growing state expansion of AID legislation, and the role of nurses in assisting patients who request AID.

Profiles: Nurses at the Top

How two nurse leaders—Regina Cunningham, chief executive officer of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and Kevin Sowers, president of the Johns Hopkins Health System and executive vice president of Johns Hopkins Medicine—got to where they are today.

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

  • A Viewpoint article by a nursing instructor on hospital staff bullying students.
  • An AJN Reports on sexual harassment in nursing.
  • A Nursing Resources column on a fall prevention toolkit and training curriculum from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

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, a nurse checks on a critically ill patient in the ICU. We chose this photo in recognition of Nurses Week (May 6-12) to honor an underrecognized but fundamental nursing skill: watchfulness.