Remembering a Tough NYC Detective on the 41st Great American Smokeout

Photo of AJN editor-in-chief Shawn Kennedy AJN editor-in-chief Shawn Kennedy

My uncle Joe embodied the persona of the old-time tough NYC Irish detective—he was over six feet tall, had piercing blue eyes and white hair, always wore a tan raincoat, and always had a cigarette in his hand. As a child, my siblings and I were always a little bit afraid of him. That image faded, though, and my last image of him was hunched over, with an oxygen cannula, trying to breathe. All those cigarettes added up, and after a lifetime of smoking, he died from chronic lung disease. This was before the landmark report on smoking and health issued by the U.S. surgeon general in 1964. Tiffany, 35, Louisiana; quit smoking at 34; smoke-free since January 2012. (CDC) Tiffany, 35, Louisiana; quit smoking at 34; smoke-free since January 2012. (CDC)

Today is the 41st annual Great American Smokeout—the day created by the American Cancer Society (ACS) to help encourage smokers to quit smoking. According to the […]

2016-11-21T13:00:49-05:00November 16th, 2016|Nursing, personal health practices, Public health|0 Comments
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Taking Skin Tear Prevention and Management Seriously

In the Past, Approaches to Skin Tears Were Inadequate

Many years ago, when I worked in a skilled nursing facility, it seemed my patients were always experiencing skin tears. We didn’t have wound care specialists then. My approach to these injuries, which I didn’t see as serious, was to cleanse them with saline and awkwardly attempt to reposition the detached flap. In retrospect, the nursing care I provided didn’t amount to much more than “a lick and a promise.”

Greater Awareness of Risks, Dangers of Skin Tears

screen-shot-2016-11-14-at-6-09-55-pmToday, we know that skin tears can evolve into serious, complex wounds. Available data indicate that in long-term care settings, these injuries affect up to 22% of residents. Wound care specialists have developed a classification system for skin tears—as for pressure injuries, specific recommendations from wound care specialists guide our nursing care.

In this month’s AJN, author Sharon Baranoski and colleagues from the International Skin Tear Advisory Panel detail the assessment and management of skin tears in “Preventing, Assessing, and Managing Skin Tears: A Clinical Review.” While the authors emphasize the need to involve wound care nurses in the management of these injuries, many readers may find the product selection guide in this article to be especially useful. […]

2016-11-21T13:00:49-05:00November 14th, 2016|Nursing|3 Comments
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All Saints’ Day Blessing for Health Care Providers

Autumn Angel / photo by Julianna Paradisi 2016 Autumn Angel / photo by Julianna Paradisi 2016

November is the strangest of months. Its days are shorter, darker. It begins with All Saints’ Day, a day of remembering our dead, of loss and grief, followed late in the month by Thanksgiving, America’s celebration of abundance with gratitude.

This year on All Saints’ Day I attended a discussion of health care professionals. The audience included nurses, physicians, pharmacists, social workers, and hospital administrators. The conversation ultimately centered on the emotional difficulties of patient care.

It wasn’t a debriefing as much as collective acknowledgment that, rather than accepting help, some patients or their family members view us as the enemy, sometimes disrupting our best efforts in the name of misguided advocacy.

Nurses spoke of being labeled as “bad” and played against each other by angry patients or family members. Physicians related episodes of verbal abuse from patients or family members demanding inappropriate procedures, medications, or dosing. Some spoke of needing to take refuge to center their thoughts before ordering the appropriate care.

Like most nurses, I’ve experienced similar treatment at the hands of difficult patients, but physicians don’t generally discuss with us how they are treated. Nurses and physicians suffer silently, instead of lending support […]

2016-11-21T13:00:49-05:00November 10th, 2016|Nursing, Patients|1 Comment
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AJN November Issue News: Maternal Mortality, Nurses’ Salaries, Double Mastectomy, More

AJN’s monthly news section covers timely and important research and policy stories that are relevant to the nursing world. Here are some of the stories you’ll find in our current issue (news articles in AJN are free access):

Photo by Dennis MacDonald / Alamy Stock Photo. Photo by Dennis MacDonald / Alamy Stock Photo.

Maternal Mortality in U.S. on the Rise

In 48 states and the District of Columbia, the maternal mortality rate increased by 26.6% between 2000 and 2014. (Texas was analyzed separately; its rate doubled between 2010 and 2012.) California–which saw a decline in maternal deaths–was the exception. While there’s no clear cause for the increase, researchers have several ideas about factors that may have prompted it.

Salaries for Nurses Decrease, While NP Salaries Rise

According to a survey of 20,000 health care workers, compensation for nurses decreased 3.1% between 2015 and 2016; NPs reported a 5.3% […]

2016-11-21T13:00:49-05:00November 9th, 2016|Nursing|0 Comments
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Behind the Curtain: A Patient’s Evolving Relationship to Illness

Illustration by Eric Collins/ecol-art.com. All rights reserved. Illustration by Eric Collins/ecol-arts.com. All rights reserved.

Having edited it, I’d like to recommend AJN‘s November Reflections essay, “Behind the Curtain.” In it, author Leigh Pate looks back to an early experience in her own cancer treatment. Sitting in a chemotherapy bay receiving an infusion, she overhears a conversation between a cancer patient and his nurse that she will remember years later.

The central insight of this essay can’t be put into a few words, but it has something to do with the fact that the way we think and feel about an illness changes over time as we ourselves change.

The metaphors we use to talk about an illness change as the years pass. We develop a relationship to the illness that isn’t as simple as it seemed at first. Is it really always a battle? Are there always clear winners and losers? What do we really want? What is it to be strong? […]

2016-11-21T13:00:52-05:00November 4th, 2016|Patients|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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