“The technical skills and knowledge needed for nursing can be learned. For some nurses, this is enough. They do nursing, but nursing isn’t part of their identity. So how do we change that?” —EIC Maureen (Shawn) Kennedy in her November editorial

The November 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: Patient Handling and Mobility Course Content: A National Survey of Nursing Programs

What do nursing programs teach students about lifting, turning, transferring, repositioning, and mobilizing patients? Despite evidence supporting the use of safe patient handling and mobility practices, the authors’ findings suggest that most curricula need updating in this area.

CE: How to Predict Pediatric Pressure Injury Risk with the Braden QD Scale

This article offers guidance on use of the Braden QD Scale—a pediatric risk assessment instrument that reliably predicts both immobility-related and medical device–related pressure injuries. Readers can test their skills by assigning scores to patients in a variety of scenarios.

Looking Back: Nurses Fight for the Right to Vote

The author shares the stories of four nurse suffragists—Lavinia Lloyd Dock, Mary Bartlett Dixon, Sarah Tarleton Colvin, and Hattie Frances Kruger—who were arrested for their involvement in the women’s suffrage movement.

Cultivating Quality: The Integrative Therapy Nurse: A Valuable Player in Symptom Management

The author, an RN with board certification in therapeutic massage and bodywork, describes how she implemented an integrative therapy initiative on the spinal cord injury and disorders unit at a Veterans Affairs medical center, resulting in decreased pain and increased relaxation among the veterans who participated.

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

  • An AJN Reports on patient dumping.
  • A Teaching for Practice column on addressing unsafe student behavior.
  • A book review of The Healing of America by T.R. Reid.

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, nurses march in a New York suffrage parade in 1913. It wasn’t until seven years later, with the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, that their vision became a reality and women were granted the right to vote. The tireless efforts of suffragists, including many nurses, preceded this achievement by decades.