The Invisible Nature of Grief

Most nurses know the stages of grief by heart: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. We know the stages do not occur in an orderly, linear fashion. People flow in and out of each stage, circling back around to earlier stages as needed.

But I’m not aware of anyone discussing the invisible, insulating environment grief surrounds its survivors within. An acquaintance described it like this:

“We had just taken our son off of life-support, and sat with him as he passed. Our entire family had gathered to say goodbye. After leaving the hospital, we went to eat. I sat in the café, marveling at the world outside, that people were going about their daily lives, and I had just lost my son.”

When grieving periods were the norm.

collage by julianna paradisi/2018

A cultural understanding of this phenomena developed during the Victorian era, and still exists in period romance novels: People of means, after suffering the loss of a loved one or recovering from traumatic illness or injury, were sent to live with relatives in the country or at the seaside. There, they had no household responsibilities beyond taking long walks through the forest or along the shore, keeping journals, or sketching. In romance novels, the grieving heroine gets the added bonus of discovering a Fabio-like love to […]

2018-04-09T18:43:00-04:00April 9th, 2018|family, family experience, Nursing, Patients|0 Comments
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It’s Spring. Time to Think about Lyme Disease

Ticks Ixodes pacificus (shown here in CDC image) and Ixodes scapularis are known vectors of Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease)

National data confirm that diagnoses of Lyme disease begin to rise each year during the month of April, then rapidly reach their peak in June and July. Just in time for “Lyme season,” readers can learn more about the disease in “Lyme Disease: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention” in this month’s AJN.

Lyme disease was first recognized in 1975 in Lyme, Connecticut. From 492 confirmed cases in 1982 (the first year in which Lyme was a reportable disease) to more than 35,000 confirmed and probable cases in 2016, the causative organism, Borrelia burgdorferi, has continued to expand its geographic reach. The CE article notes that these numbers may be undercounts and cites analysis of laboratory and medical claims data from 2008 suggesting that the true number of annual diagnoses may actually be between 240,000 to 444,000.  […]

2018-04-04T09:11:38-04:00April 4th, 2018|climate change, infectious diseases, Nursing, Public health|0 Comments
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April Issue: Delirium in Hospitalized Children, Lyme Disease Basics, Ostomy Care, More

The April 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: Recognizing Delirium in Hospitalized Children: A Systemic Review of the Evidence on Risk Factors and Characteristics

Among the key findings of this review was that delirium is multifactorial,
related to treatment (such as mechanical ventilation) and to a hospital
environment (such as the pediatric ICU) that deprives patients of normal
sleep–wake cycles and familiar routines.

CE: Lyme Disease: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention

The authors describe the clinical features of Lyme disease, the appropriate use of diagnostic tests, the recommended treatment, and evidence-based strategies for preventing tick-borne diseases nurses can share with patients.

Environments and Health: The Great London Smog of 1952

Over five days in December 1952, smog engulfed London, killing up to 12,000 people. This article discusses the disaster’s impact on human health and subsequent pollution legislation—including the U.S. Clean Air Act—and its implications for nurses today, as dangerous air quality events continue and environmental regulations are increasingly under threat.

Supporting Family Caregivers: No Longer Home Alone: Ostomy Care at Home

The authors offer practical guidance, including an informational tear sheet and an instructional

2018-04-02T09:22:34-04:00April 2nd, 2018|Nursing|0 Comments
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‘A Story Bigger Than Himself’: Easter on the Oncology Unit

“Kevin refused to make cancer the meaning of his days. . . . He showed me that the smallest gesture has the possibility to create expansive love. His kindness reminded many of the patients that they hadn’t lost value and worth, no matter how humbled they had been by cancer.”

That’s from the lovely Reflections essay in the new (April) issue of AJN and is written by nurse Barbara Adams. The article recounts a memorable Easter episode on the oncology unit in which a 26-year-old firefighter demonstrates a different kind of bravery and selflessness. […]

2018-03-30T08:34:03-04:00March 30th, 2018|Nursing, nursing stories, Patients|0 Comments
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That Capstone Time of Year

Is that paper ready for prime time?

nurse typing on keyboardIt’s almost that time of year when graduate students (and some baccalaureate students, too) are preparing final papers. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears are involved, and understandably so—after all, these capstone projects and the resulting reports often determine whether one graduates. If done correctly, some papers might be worth submitting for publication. Faculty might even be encouraging you to do so—kudos.

I wrote a blog post a couple of years ago, suggesting some things that perhaps faculty neglect to mention along with their encouragement. As I noted in the post, we want you to be successful:

“…we need nurses at all levels to write about their work, and not enough of them do so. And the responsibility for nursing’s scholarly work cannot rest solely with academics and researchers; clinicians have the firsthand knowledge about care processes and outcomes, and they need to document their work. They need to communicate to the public about what it is that they do so that nurses’ work becomes more visible; they need to communicate to colleagues about what works and what doesn’t so that we can replicate successful quality improvement initiatives.”

Some Things You’ll Probably Need to Know to Get Published

So, before you get too far along in developing the paper, here’s that blog post, along with some […]

2018-03-28T09:25:47-04:00March 28th, 2018|Nursing, students, writing|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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