Potential Changes to Blood Donation Policies for MSM in the United States

Critical blood shortages persist.

Blood supply shortages heightened by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic continue to persist in the United States. Major blood suppliers report that this is the lowest level of blood supply they’ve experienced in a decade. Despite this, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to uphold a longstanding ban on donations from men who have sex with men (MSM), even those who are HIV-negative and in monogamous relationships. The current ban, revised in 2020 due to blood shortages during the pandemic, recommends deferrals for all men who report having sex with men within the last three months.

In early January of this year, the American Medical Association (AMA) sent a strong message to the FDA recommending a change in the current practices. After much external debate, the FDA recently took a significant step by initiating a national pilot study to examine these deferral policies. This study, entitled Assessing Donor Variability and New Concepts in Eligibility (ADVANCE), aimed to guide the FDA in revising the current screening questionnaire and deferral practices. Since the study’s conclusion in September, news outlets have reported that the FDA is considering revising the questionnaire to shift its focus to individual risk, based […]

2022-12-19T13:03:58-05:00December 19th, 2022|Nursing, nursing perspective, Public health|0 Comments
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The Many Masks Nursing Students Wear

In my experience, nursing students often have an intense drive, intelligence, curiosity, and resilience to get them through the two years of the specialty courses in our BSN program. But sometimes the strain of the many demands and new experiences can be overwhelming, and over the years I have had numerous students come to my office for reassuring words and a safe space to reveal their struggles.

Amidst the rigors of nursing school (and their nursing careers to come), it’s important that students find a way to balance studying with self-care. We all wear masks in our lives; in fact, they are essential. Here are some of the masks that I’ve noticed students adopt when they feel particularly under pressure.

Always smiling.

When I was a student almost 20 years ago, I was stressed more days than I was happy. While everyone has a different temperament, I know I was not alone in this. As an educator, I’ve noticed that some students seem to be always smiling, as if the smile is frozen on their faces. There are some real advantages to friendly, caring smiles from a nurse, in that they can help build rapport with patients who are in a vulnerable position. But in some cases, by always smiling, the students may be trying to live up […]

2022-12-12T10:08:10-05:00December 12th, 2022|Nursing, nursing students|0 Comments
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One Hospital and Community’s Rock Garden of Hope

In March 2020, Mount Sinai Queens, like many other hospitals, was overrun with patients with COVID-19. Despite layers of PPE, plus anxiety, exhaustion, and communication overload, the will to not only survive but thrive sustained the breath behind every mask. Heroes of all types were saving and soothing lives, and still are.

Outside the big front door of our hospital is a bustling ED ramp. To the left were two 18-wheel refrigeration trucks, the sight of which could take your breath away. To the far right were two 30-foot inflatable enclosed tents propped up to help the ED off-load abundant overcrowding inside. These were constant reminders that we were living through a once-in-100-year-pandemic.

An ER nurse’s creative response to a grim time.

The health care workers at the hospital weren’t the only ones subjected to these grim sights; so were our Astoria neighbors, who lived on the same block facing the ED ramp. We’ve always prided ourselves on the collaborative work we do for and with this community, including health fairs, screenings, and partnering with them on community boards. So one of us, an ED nurse named Fionnuala Quiqley (Nuala), decided to do something about it.

Nuala is a skilled and passionate ED nurse with more than 14 years of experience. She is […]

2022-12-08T10:19:25-05:00December 8th, 2022|COVID-19, Nursing|1 Comment
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Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids: A Panacea?

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the sale of over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids for people with mild to moderate hearing loss (not severe hearing loss), beginning Oct. 17, 2022. What should nurses know about these devices?

Margaret Wallhagen

Hearing loss is one of the most common chronic conditions, becomes increasingly prevalent across the life span, and is far from benign. This latter fact is often not appreciated, but hearing loss is associated with a range of negative psychosocial concerns such as isolation and depression, as well as many health-related conditions, including falls, delirium, and cognitive decline.

For a long time, I’ve been passionate about raising awareness about hearing loss and its impact on people, their families, society, and the health care they receive, as well as promoting hearing health care access. One intervention that can mitigate some of the impact of hearing loss is the use of hearing aids. The focus of this brief blog post is on a new opportunity for people to access this technology that those of us in health care should be aware of.

Cost as a barrier to use of hearing aids.

Prescription hearing aids, while far from perfect, can help, and usually do make hearing less […]

2022-12-05T17:33:55-05:00December 5th, 2022|health care policy, Nursing, Patients, Public health, Technology|2 Comments
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ER Nurse Who Called 911 for Backup: ‘What Are We Afraid Of?’

Making the call.

As I got home this morning after a hectic 12-hour shift as charge RN in a 50-bed ER, I sat in my silent car for a moment to ponder how much has changed in the last three weeks.

Three weeks ago, overwhelmed by walk-in patients and ambulance traffic and severely short-staffed, I called the emergency services non-emergent line and asked for help in our crowded lobby. I wasn’t thinking about the repercussions, about the uproar or the giant target I sometimes feel I’ve installed on my back with my outspokenness. I was thinking about my coworkers, spread too thin, exhausted and afraid for their licenses, and the patients that I knew had been sitting in the lobby for hours, sick and in pain and mostly unmonitored. I had no idea of the attention that call would receive.

Did speaking out change anything?

Someone recently asked, “What changes have you seen in the month since you made that call?”

For myself, I’ve been learning to navigate in a more public arena, […]

2022-12-01T09:51:43-05:00December 1st, 2022|Ethics, Nursing, nursing perspective, patient safety, safe staffing|5 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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