December Issue: TikTok’s ‘Dancing Nurses,’ HIV-Associated Kaposi Sarcoma, More

“As an ICU nurse, I have vivid impressions of the adrenaline-pumping moments of a code blue. Now, after being an ICU patient who experienced a code purple, I still more vividly remember the caring nurse who calmly made me feel like a human being . . .”—Alison Cusmano in her December Reflections essay, “Shift Change: From ICU Nurse to ICU Patient”

The December issue of AJN is now live. Here’s what’s new. Some articles may be free only to subscribers.

Guest Editorial: A Tribute to Dr. Fauci

A nurse honors her husband’s legacy as he retires from a nearly six-decade career in public health.

Original Research: TikTok’s ‘Dancing Nurses’ During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Content Analysis

The authors examine the use of TikTok by nurses who incorporate dance into their videos—with a focus on understanding how nurses’ use of social media might be violating professional ethical standards.

CE: HIV-Associated Kaposi Sarcoma in the Combination Antiretroviral Therapy Era

This article provides an update on the incidence, characteristics, and management of Kaposi sarcoma, and outlines nursing considerations in the care of people living with HIV who have the disease.

[…]

2022-11-21T09:11:24-05:00November 21st, 2022|Nursing|2 Comments
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A Nurse’s Lessons from Hiking the Appalachian Trail

Burnt-out and realizing it’s time for a change.

I had always been able to juggle family, school, and work life well, including roles as class mom, scout leader, and community volunteer, completing my doctorate in nursing, and working two jobs. But at a certain point, and despite my supportive family’s efforts, I began to burn out. Working as a nurse leader for a behavioral health unit was a dream come true and a nightmare all in one. I found myself caring so much, investing so much of myself, that I lost myself in the process.

In the hope that it would help, I moved back to nursing education. It didn’t. There was a void. I was missing something. I was missing me.

Maybe this is what burnout on the way to compassion fatigue feels like. But whatever we call it, my response was to quit my job and hike the Appalachian Trail for five months from Maine to Georgia with my husband. We’d always lived simply, and once we’d made the decision to go, the pieces fell into place.

Along the way, I made many discoveries. It’s paradoxical that I’d gone hiking to forget about nursing, yet I was reminded about it with each step.

Here are some souvenirs from the […]

2022-11-15T12:02:55-05:00November 15th, 2022|Nursing, nursing stories, wellness|0 Comments
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‘I Notice, I Wonder’: Demystifying the Research Process for Nurses

Alexa Curtis

Nurses are drawn to their profession out of interest in people and the human condition. In particular, nurses are committed to improving the physical and social circumstances of individuals and diverse populations. During the rigorous process of qualifying for admission and graduating from a nursing program, nurses demonstrate the capacity for acquiring and applying scientific knowledge. However, when it comes to actively engaging with nursing research, too often nursing professionals steer clear.

It is an interesting phenomenon, given that nurses by nature tend to be curious and innovative individuals. We rely on our ability to problem solve creative solutions to difficult situations. We are also highly dependent on the evolving scientific knowledge that informs our clinical practice. And most importantly, we care. We care about doing the best by people and communities. So where is the disconnect when it comes to engaging nurses in conversations about research ?

Thinking of research as ‘methodized curiosity.’

As an academic, I can say it may start with how we teach research in nursing school. The curricula for these courses tend to include large texts with obtuse terminology and complicated formulas. Although research language and data analytics are important to investigative inquiry, entry into the research realm can really be much […]

2022-11-10T10:14:48-05:00November 10th, 2022|Nursing, nursing research|1 Comment
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Respiratory Illness Surge: Differentiating and Treating RSV, COVID, and Flu in Children

Concern about a respiratory ‘triple-demic.’

Electron micrograph image of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)/Image source: CDC

Take a walk through many of the country’s pediatric emergency departments (EDs) and inpatient units right now and you will be greeted with the sounds of pinging monitors, suction, and coughing as “respiratory season” settles in.

This will be the first fall and winter that many young children have been back at schools and day cares, largely unmasked, in nearly three years. While respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza are yearly problems in pediatrics, an unseasonably early and severe surge in RSV is causing an unprecedented number of hospital admissions that is already straining many health systems.

Public health officials are already warning of a “triple-demic” this year as the current RSV surge coalesces with expected rises in influenza and COVID cases. This, of course, does not include the dozens of other respiratory viruses that affect children each winter, including the atypically severe cases of rhinoviruses/enteroviruses and parainfluenza that have already been reported this year.

RSV, influenza, COVID have subtly different symptoms.

While RSV, COVID, and influenza are all viral infections that cause acute respiratory symptoms, they can present with subtly different symptoms. The […]

2022-11-07T11:09:33-05:00November 7th, 2022|infectious diseases, Nursing, pediatrics, Public health|0 Comments
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Improving the Discovery and Care of Pressure Injuries in the Emergency Department

Jonathan Nover, MBA, RN

The problem.

Hospital-acquired conditions, particularly pressure injuries (PIs), increased at alarming rates during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospital isolation precautions and infection prevention practices limited clinician time at the bedside. How does a nurse regularly turn and position a patient if they are unable to enter the room as often as they did prior to the pandemic? In addition, hospitals often operated with high percentages of their workforce out sick.

While Covid may be less of a threat by now, the number of patients admitted to EDs continues to increase while nurse staffing shortages intensify the pressure on nurses to maintain patient safety standards. With patient boarding in EDs becoming more common, the risk of hospital-acquired PIs grows as well, even in the ED. Traditional ED care focuses on rapid screening, assessment, and stabilization, followed by discharge or admission. But the reality is that medical–surgical inpatient care has become more necessary in the ED.

A central element of nursing care is the identification of PIs upon entry to the hospital, PI prevention, and care of existing PIs. Patients who are boarded in the ED, particularly older patient populations with underlying diseases and long length of stays, are at especially high risk for pressure ulcers […]

2022-10-27T11:03:41-04:00October 27th, 2022|Nursing, patient safety|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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