Codeine Overused in Children: Alternatives Exist for Hard-to-Manage Pain

By Jacob Molyneux, senior editor

According to a story at MedlinePlus, a study in Pediatrics has found that codeine is still prescribed too often to children during ER visits, though it’s known that a small but significant subset of children metabolize the painkiller far more rapidly than do other children, leading to potentially dangerous results. As AJN‘s February CE article on treating the often severe and stubborn posttonsillectomy pain in children noted, there are other effective and safer options for children in pain, such as hydrocodone in combination with acetaminophen, as well as some non-opioid analgesics. Here’s a brief overview of the article:

Tonsillectomy, used to treat a variety of pediatric disorders, including obstructive sleep apnea, peritonsillar cellulitis or abscesses, and very frequent throat infection, is known to produce nausea, vomiting, and prolonged, moderate-to-severe pain. The authors review the causes of posttonsillectomy pain, current findings on the efficacy of various pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions in pain management, recommendations for patient and family teaching regarding pain management, and best practices for improving medication adherence.

There’s often no perfect answer in pain management, but it helps to know the full range of available strategies, their safety, and how well they work. As with all CE articles, this one is free.

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2016-11-21T13:04:56-05:00April 23rd, 2014|Ethics, nursing perspective, pain management|1 Comment
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A Tale of Two Dangerous Products

Holding On / D'Arcy Norman, via Flickr Holding On / D’Arcy Norman, via Flickr

Amanda Anderson, BSN, RN, CCRN, works in critical care in New York City and is enrolled in the Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing/Baruch College of Public Affairs dual master’s degree program in nursing administration and public administration.

There are two news stories I’ve been chewing on lately. One made it to the front page of my New York Times almost every day for a while, and the other I saw just once in the paper’s international news section several weeks ago.

The blockbuster story involves a single company that covered up a problem with an important part in one of its products. Ten years passed and a number of people died before they finally informed the public about the problem. The products with the flawed part have now been recalled, and the company is embroiled in an investigation and likely to face lawsuits and massive fines.

The far less publicized story is about a growing body of research […]

2016-11-21T13:04:59-05:00April 21st, 2014|nursing perspective|5 Comments
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Telehealth as ‘Disruptive Innovation’ in Nursing

A patient uses telehealth equipment to communicate with his nurse. Photo courtesy of Janet Grady. A patient uses telehealth equipment to communicate with his nurse. Photo courtesy of Janet Grady.

“Telehealth: A Case Study in Disruptive Innovation” is a CE article in AJN‘s April issue. The author, Janet Grady, vice president of academic affairs and chair of the Nursing and Health Sciences Division at the University of Pittsburgh in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, describes the concept of disruptive innovations in nursing and delves into the evolving field of telehealth as a current example.

The article considers the following:

  • uses and potential uses of telehealth in chronic and acute care, home care, and rural medicine, and the evidence supporting its use.
  • obstacles to wider use and acceptance of telehealth, which include cultural resistance within nursing, licensure issues across states, reimbursement challenges, and the need to adapt nursing curriculum to these new ways of delivering care.
  • forces that drive or obstruct disruptive innovations like telehealth.

Here’s the article overview:

Technologic advances in health care have often outpaced our ability to integrate the technology efficiently, establish best practices for its use, and develop policies to regulate and evaluate its effectiveness. However, these may be insufficient reasons to put the brakes on innovation—particularly those “disruptive innovations” that challenge the […]

2016-11-21T13:05:00-05:00April 18th, 2014|digital health, Nursing, patient engagement|1 Comment
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Anxiety Apps: New Fad or Worth the Download?

photo3By Amy M. Collins, editor

Today there’s an app for everything. There are find-your-keys apps, map-the-stars apps, even an app to help you hone your stapling skills. And apps exist to help patients with every kind of health care need, from managing diabetes to prenatal care. Usually, in an attempt to keep my smartphone use to a minimum, I avoid jumping on the trendy app bandwagon. But recently I came across an article touting an app to reduce anxiety. As a long-term, mostly recovered sufferer of chronic anxiety and panic, this article piqued my interest (and my skepticism).

While certainly not the first app developed to reduce stress, this particular app—called Personal Zen—has been tested by researchers who found that participants with relatively high scores on an anxiety survey showed less nervous behavior after using the app than those in a placebo group, according to a study published in Clinical Psychological Science. Developed by psychologist Tracy Dennis, a professor at Hunter College in New York City (and, it should probably be noted, one of the study’s lead authors), the app incorporates the concept of cognitive bias modification to get the user to shift their focus from a threatening stimulus to a nonthreatening one. More studies are needed to see if such an app would have the same success in those with clinically diagnosed anxiety.

And there are literally […]

2016-11-21T13:05:01-05:00April 16th, 2014|Nursing|4 Comments
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Nursing Students and Then Some – In Opryland, Revisiting AJN’s Long Connection With NSNA

Revisiting AJN’s long connection with this vibrant student nursing association. 

By Maureen Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN, editor-in-chief

Opryland critters Opryland critters

I’ve said it a number of times over the years, most recently in my editorial in the April issue of AJN: the National Student Nurses Association (NSNA) is a vibrant organization and produces one of the most well-organized annual meetings in nursing. This year, it broke attendance records, drawing approximately 3,200 students and faculty advisors to the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, where I spent part of last week.*

Supporting NSNA since its founding. The American Journal of Nursing has been a supporter and and sponsor of the NSNA since the organization began in 1952. The NSNA offices used to be part of the AJN offices at one time, and before NSNA had its own publication (Imprint), AJN published “The Student Pages.” We sponsor Project InTouch, an award given to the student who recruits the most new members for the organization. This year, winner Joanna Laufer from East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, recruited 130 new members; overall, this initiative brought in over 1,600 new members this year. Impressive.

Impressive, and sharp dressers too! The students I met—mostly junior and senior nursing students—were also impressive. They were enthusiastic, eager to learn, and professional. I have to say this group […]

2016-11-21T13:05:02-05:00April 14th, 2014|students|1 Comment
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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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