Off the Charts

Have A Seat—Or Maybe Not

Too much sitting is harmful.

Photo © blue jean images.

In this month’s AJN, author Linda Eanes sounds the alarm about the health risks associated with the way most of us spend much of our waking life: sitting down. Her article, “Too Much Sitting: A Newly Recognized Health Risk,” reviews research on the health effects of prolonged uninterrupted sitting (sitting for 30 minutes or more) and high-volume sitting (sitting for seven hours or more each day).

Studies show an association between high-volume and prolonged uninterrupted sitting and health risks, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and all-cause mortality. Sedentary time is also linked to obesity and an increased risk of certain cancers, including ovarian, endometrial, and colon cancer.

Eanes notes:

“Simply put, too much sitting, with its characteristic reduced energy expenditure and absence of whole body movement, may jeopardize health even in the presence of regular exercise.”

Exercise matters, but we’re still sitting too much.

Unfortunately, Eanes’s statement describes my life (see my September editorial) and that of most people I know: sitting at a desk, sitting while commuting, and doing some exercise a few hours a week. (Or what we like to think of […]

Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN, FAAN, editor-in-chief (emerita)2018-09-10T10:06:16-04:00September 6th, 2018|Public health|0 Comments

What Are We Breathing In?

Photo © Shutterstock.

For people who haven’t given much thought to “particulate matter” as a health hazard, the wildfires in the western United States remind us of how ambient smoke affects quality of life. Even communities not devastated by the fires—and often hundreds of miles away from them—have seen and experienced the effects of the smoke from these fires.

In this month’s AJN, authors Jessica Castner and Barbara Polivka explore particulate matter exposure and its effects on health in their article “Nursing Practice and Particulate Matter Exposure” (free until September 18). Using a detailed case history as an example, the authors offer guidance on nursing assessment and interventions to address particulate matter exposures. They also remind us how easy it is to encounter these pollutants.

“Common outdoor sources of particulate matter include industrial and traffic emissions, power plant emissions, wildfires, and wood stoves. Indoor sources include smoking, wood fires, cooking, and cooking fuels . . . mold; air fresheners and scented products; aerosolized cleaning and personal care products; and dust from carpeting, upholstery, and bedding.”

Air pollution: a host of associated ills.

While we often think of the respiratory problems that can result from this type of air pollution, Castner and Polivka point out literature that also […]

Betsy Todd, MPH, RN2018-09-04T09:14:24-04:00September 4th, 2018|environmental health, Nursing|1 Comment

The End of Summer Is Nearly Here: Use Those Vacations

Every July 4th at the end of the day, a friend used to say, “Well, summer is almost over.” And summer did seem to fly by in a blink after that day. Now here we are again, putting the summer of 2018 to bed as we face Labor Day weekend. This last chance at summer always seems a little sad. It’s the marker of so many things—the end of lifeguards at the beach, the last chance to get school supplies, the beginning of another school year. (That includes nursing school. Here’s some good advice for new nursing students that we collected a while back from our readers.)

Like many others, I recently spent a week on vacation with family. It took some doing to get things organized and some working ahead to meet deadlines, but it was worth it. As a manager, there’s no one to keep certain things moving while you’re gone. So the week leading up to vacation is a frenzied time, organizing and working ahead to cover deadlines, and getting ready to leave. Then, once back, there’s another frenzied time to try to catch up. My strategy is to check email once a day while on vacation. It keeps what I have to deal with on […]

Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN, FAAN, editor-in-chief (emerita)2018-08-31T07:59:34-04:00August 31st, 2018|Nursing, nursing career, wellness|0 Comments

September Issue: The Risks of Too Much Sitting, Stable COPD, Antidepressant Medications, More

“As a pediatric nurse working with medically fragile children, I have noticed a fault in others that I have only recently been able to work on in myself—the one thing worse than staring at a child with an obvious disability is to conspicuously pretend we don’t notice the child at all.” —Lindsey van Gennep, author of this month’s Viewpoint article, “Afraid to Notice: On Responding to Children with Visible Disabilities”

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

CE: Too Much Sitting: A Newly Recognized Health Risk

This integrative literature review examines compelling evidence that overall daily sitting time—regardless of whether a person engages in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity—may be an independent health risk for cardiometabolic health conditions, certain cancers, and all-cause mortality. It also reveals new insights into high-volume sitting (seven or more hours a day) and prolonged uninterrupted sitting (30 minutes or more) and their relationship to adverse health outcomes.

CE: Managing Stable COPD: An Evidence-Based Approach

The authors describe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) risk factors, clinical manifestations, and diagnostic testing, and discuss how to put the revised Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease recommendations into practice.

For One Nurse, the Heroin Crisis Hits Too Close to Home

Illustration by Gingermoth.

The abundance of cheap, potent street drugs like heroin and fentanyl continue to cause record overdose numbers. This ongoing crisis struck close to home for the nurse who’s the author of our August Reflections essay. When her nephew ended up in the hospital, she found herself, as a family member, “on the wrong side of” the situation:

“This happened to other people’s families, not mine. I was supposed to be reading the monitors and titrating the drips. I was supposed to be taking care of the patient.”

With the support of nurses.

The author, in her dual role as nurse and sister of the young man’s father, must at times walk a fine line between these roles. And so she’s grateful for the help of the nurses whose presence sees the author’s family through what can’t be seen through. They quietly minister to their patient and those most concerned with his fate. Their sensitivity and professionalism offer them a profound support. […]

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2018-08-27T07:33:23-04:00August 27th, 2018|Nursing|0 Comments

Too much sitting is harmful.

Exercise matters, but we’re still sitting too much.

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Air pollution: a host of associated ills.

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With the support of nurses.

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