Person-Centered Care of LGBTQ+ Adults: And Other Recommended Reading from AJN’s September Issue

The September issue of AJN is now live.

How can nurses create more inclusive and affirming health care environments for patients who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning, or have other gender identities and sexual orientations? Read this month’s CE article, “Best Practices for Person-Centered Nursing Care of LGBTQ+ Adults,” to learn more.

Our September AJN Reports, “Enrollment in Nursing PhD Programs Continues to Slide,” examines a trend that threatens nursing education and research into patient care.

In “Using the Brøset Violence Checklist Beyond Behavioral Health and the ED: A Mixed-Methods Study,” Russell-Babin and colleagues note that “Evidence has shown that the Brøset Violence Checklist (BVC), a six-item scale that takes less than two minutes to complete, demonstrates predictive validity for violent behavior in psychiatric and emergency settings.” Their study aimed to determine the relationship between BVC scores and the incidence of violent behavior among patients on adult medical–surgical, telemetry, progressive care, and intermediate and intensive care units.

The latest article in the Evidence-Based Decision-Making series, “Establishing Benchmarks,” reviews benchmarking in nursing practice; explains external and internal benchmarking; identifies sources for benchmarks; and outlines steps for benchmarking, including its application in DNP projects. […]

2025-08-21T13:07:50-04:00August 21st, 2025|Nursing|0 Comments
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Some Gentle Reminders for Ensuring Appropriate Language Interpretation for Patients

Photo by Ling App on Unsplash

When I began nursing school, I never could have imagined how quickly I would be thrust into the heart of health care, quite literally. During my first semester, I started clinical rotations on a cardiovascular unit, where I began to understand the phenomenal intricacies of the human heart. It was a time of discovery, as I learned to navigate the complexities of blood pressure readings, mean arterial pressures (MAP), electrocardiograms (ECGs), cardiac catheterizations, and even the life-changing left ventricular assistive devices (LVADs).

By the time I began my second semester, I found myself in a cardiovascular surgical intermediate care unit, a place that would push me further into the depths of cardiac care. There, under the watchful eye of my clinical preceptor, I had the responsibility of caring for patients who had undergone some of the most intricate and high-stakes procedures imaginable. It was during this semester that I encountered a powerful lesson that has stayed with me long after graduation and well into my early years as a registered nurse.

A lesson in why clear communication really matters.

A Spanish-speaking Hispanic woman with coronary artery disease was admitted to our cardiac unit. Her electronic medical record noted Spanish […]

2025-08-11T14:15:43-04:00August 11th, 2025|family, family experience, Nursing, patient engagement, patient experience, patient safety|0 Comments
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Reducing Assessment Frequency: And Other Recommended Reading from AJN’s August Issue

The August issue of AJN is now live.

Does decreasing comprehensive physical assessments from twice daily to once daily in the general care setting affect patient safety or care quality? The authors of “Optimizing Nurses’ Time: Reducing Assessment Frequency in General Care” discuss a quality improvement project that addressed this question.

This month’s CE article, “Auto-Brewery Syndrome: Diagnosis and Treatment of This Little-Known Condition,” outlines presentation, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up and the nursing implications for the care of these vulnerable patients. (Open access)

In “Health Care Workers and Burnout: A Cross-Sectional Study,” Vidal and colleagues note that “the effects of trauma-informed care practices on health care worker burnout, in the context of stressors such as workplace violence, are not fully understood.” Their study explores associations between workers’ attitudes toward trauma-informed care, worries about workplace violence, and burnout through a survey administered as part of a public health initiative.

Our August AJN Reports, “Barriers to Full Practice,” examines the American Medical Association’s push against APRN independence.

The latest article in the Nursing Research, Step by Step series, “Reporting Guidelines: An Overview,” explains reporting guidelines relevant to nursing research, how they’re developed, and why they’re important; introduces the EQUATOR Network, […]

2025-07-24T14:40:03-04:00July 24th, 2025|Nursing|0 Comments
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Nurses as Vital Partners in the Fight Against Antimicrobial Resistance

Photo: Shutterstock

Reducing the impact of antimicrobial therapy is a part of fundamental practice for health care providers, pharmacists, microbiologists, and public health professionals. Inclusion of nurses in the conversation regarding actions and implementation to achieve this end has often been an afterthought.

However, the number of nurses practicing across every health care setting makes us critical and active partners. What, specifically, are the roles and actions of nurses in addressing antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial stewardship (AMS), and safe patient care and outcomes? Let’s first review the basics of the problem.

Nursing Activities Relevant to Antimicrobial Use and Stewardship

The approximately 5.77 million active nurses in the United States are widely trusted and well positioned to provide education on antibiotic use and influence behavior related to antimicrobial therapy. Their universal presence in health care settings empowers them to play a role as frontline actors in antimicrobial stewardship across inpatient, outpatient, and community settings. To make this happen, programs supporting appropriate use require commitment from health care leadership, available expertise in antimicrobial drug use, regular performance evaluation, […]

2025-07-14T10:38:24-04:00July 14th, 2025|Nursing, patient safety|0 Comments
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R3: Resilient Nurses Initiative Seeks to Redefine the Nursing Narrative

A film created to spark meaningful conversations about nursing.

With support from a state-funded grant, the R3: Resilient Nurses Initiative has embarked on a project to further its mission of promoting renewal, resilience, and retention in the nursing profession—a short film. In collaboration with the Dracopoulos-Bloomberg iDeas Lab at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, the team created Harnessing the Promise of Nursing.

The film includes interviews with a diverse array of Maryland nurses

The film aims to spark meaningful conversations that help nurses reconnect with their power, purpose, and value—ultimately strengthening and sustaining the nursing workforce.

Featuring interviews with Maryland nurses across generations and practice areas, the film offers a diverse range of voices and perspectives. It seeks to shift outdated narratives about nursing by highlighting both the profession’s challenges and its profound rewards. Through this lens, the film explores strategies for building a more sustainable future for nurses.

‘Capturing authentic, first-person experiences.’

A central theme of the project is the importance of nurses using their own voices to shape the story of their profession. By capturing authentic, first-person experiences, the film reclaims the narrative—centering it on pride, agency, and the essential role of nurses in health care. It also explores the generational, experiential, and cultural differences that […]

2025-06-30T16:04:36-04:00June 30th, 2025|Nursing|0 Comments
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Views expressed on the blog are solely those of the authors or persons quoted. They do not necessarily reflect AJN’s views or those of Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
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