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 […]

2016-11-21T13:00:49-05:00November 9th, 2016|Nursing|0 Comments
Read More

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
Read More

Hitting the Nursing Conference Trail: Many Miles, But Much to Inspire

“Nurses are doing such interesting and important work.”

A big part of what we do at AJN is seek out the latest information and compelling stories to bring to readers each month. That often means a lot of traveling. While sometimes it does get a bit much (conferences are mostly clustered in the spring and the fall), I’ve come to enjoy traveling—nurses are doing such interesting and important work!

Here’s a recap of some recent travels:

Nursing Research

2016-11-21T13:00:52-05:00November 2nd, 2016|Nursing|0 Comments
Read More

Dosing Cups, Oral Syringes, or Spoons: A Pediatric Medication Safety Recipe for Disaster?

pediatricdosingA recent article I came across in Pediatrics said that researchers found (during laboratory experiments) that four out of five parents made at least one dosing error when using either a dosing cup or an oral syringe to dispense liquid medication meant for children. As a new parent who has grappled with multiple dosing tools, I can’t say I am surprised.

Growing up, I remember syrupy medicines being doled out by my mother on spoons of varying size—a teaspoon or tablespoon—not a very accurate method when you also factor in that most spoons differ in shape and, probably, actual volume.

After my son had his first round of vaccines, the nurse told me that, in case he had a fever that night, the standard dose of Tylenol for his size and age was 80 mg. He didn’t get a fever in the end, and I didn’t think about what she’d told me until he had his first fever from a cold several months later.

When I went to open my box of Tylenol, I saw that the syringe that came with it did not use the dosage the nurse had told me (in milligrams), but rather, milliliters. I looked on the box for instructions but it only listed the […]

2016-11-21T13:00:52-05:00November 1st, 2016|patient safety, pediatrics|0 Comments
Read More

AJN in November: Skin Tears, Veteran Women’s Mental Health, Supporting Family Caregivers, More

The November issue of AJN is now live. Here are some articles we’d like to bring to your attention.

ajn1116-cover-onlineCE Feature: “Preventing, Assessing, and Managing Skin Tears: A Clinical Review”

Although skin tears are common, particularly among older adults and neonates, they are often inadequately documented and poorly managed, resulting in complications, extended hospital stays, and negative patient outcomes. In this article, the first in a series on wound care in collaboration with the World Council of Enterostomal Therapists, the authors describe the complications that developed in an elderly patient whose skin tear was improperly dressed and discuss best practices for preventing, assessing, documenting, and managing skin tears.

CE Feature: “Veteran Women: Mental Health–Related Consequences of Military Service”

The last two decades have seen increasing numbers of women entering all branches of the U.S. armed forces. Many are exposed to traumatic events that place them at higher risk for mental health conditions. It’s essential for all nurses to be knowledgeable about the mental health issues commonly seen in this population. The author of this article reviews research confirming that both active-duty and veteran women are at increased risk for postdeployment mental health problems, including posttraumatic stress disorder, military sexual trauma, and suicide—and also addresses the nursing practice implications, […]

2016-11-21T13:00:52-05:00October 28th, 2016|Nursing|0 Comments
Read More

Comment ground rules

1. Please be respectful.
2. We moderate all comments.

Content disclaimer

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.
Go to Top