“One expects nurses to be better informed than the general public when it comes to science and health matters.”—editor-in-chief Shawn Kennedy in her October editorial, “Getting on Board with Vaccinations”

The October issue of AJN is now live. Here’s what’s new. Some articles may be free only to subscribers.

CE: Hypertensive Emergencies: A Review

An overview of the pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, and management of hypertensive emergency, plus nursing considerations for acute and preventive care.

CE: A Prone Positioning Protocol for Awake, Nonintubated Patients with COVID-19

How an interdisciplinary team at one Boston hospital developed and
implemented a protocol for proning awake, hypoxemic patients with
suspected or confirmed COVID-19 on medical–surgical units.

Special Feature: Preventing Medjacking

This article discusses medical device cybersecurity, the risks and consequences of compromised medical and personal data, and what nurses can do to guard against security threats and educate patients.

Transition to Practice: Transgender and Gender Diverse Nursing Care

The authors offer guidance for novice nurses on providing affirming care to transgender and gender diverse patients, including discussions of gender and pronouns, privacy considerations, and communication and advocacy.

Strip Savvy: A Case of Sudden Cardiac Arrest

This article is one in a series on the basics of ECG interpretation. After presenting a case scenario and an ECG strip, the authors take readers step by step through analyzing the heart rhythm.

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

  • A Viewpoint on mitigating drowsy driving risk for night shift nurses.
  • An AJN Reports on the recent surge in gun violence in the United States.
  • A Profile of Jackie Campbell, creator of the Danger Assessment.

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

A note on the cover.

This month’s cover illustration shows two people walking through the Hockomock Swamp in southeastern Massachusetts. It’s a place nurse Pamela Sturtevant wrote about as an escape from the realities of COVID-19 in her July Reflections article, “Of Swamps and Pandemics.” She described the Hockomock as an otherworldly setting known for “legends and sightings of wonderfully scary things”; as such, with Halloween spookiness in mind, we decided to repurpose her article’s illustration on our October cover.