Off the Charts

On Its Own Terms: An ICU Nurse Considers Human Adaptability

By Marcy Phipps, RN, a regular writer for this blog. Her essay, “The Love Song of Frank,” was published in the May (2012) issue of AJN. Some of the patient’s identifying details in this post have been changed to protect privacy.

by ashraful kadir/ flickr

I caught an airing of The Shawshank Redemption the other day. It’s one of my favorite movies—full of irony and rich with messages of hope and perseverance.

There’s one line from the movie, in particular, that I love:

“Get busy living, or get busy dying.”

It’s one of my favorite movie quotes, and one that plagued me at work recently as I took care of a woman who’d suffered such a high-level fracture to her cervical spine that her injury was compared to an internal decapitation.

Her doctors had talked with her and her family at length about her injuries and prognosis, and although she’d initially indicated that she wanted to withdraw aggressive care, as time passed her directives became inconsistent—she’d tell her husband one thing, her medical team something else. On the day I was her nurse, she looked at me and very clearly mouthed the words “I don’t want to die,” then shut her eyes tight, ending our brief conversation as effectively as if she’d stood and left the room.

I think that most of the time, at least in the ICU where I work, people aren’t “getting […]

Marcy Phipps, BSN, RN, CCRN, CFRN2016-11-21T13:07:26-05:00May 30th, 2013|Nursing, nursing perspective, Patients|3 Comments

‘The Nurse Who Changed My Treatment’

By Annalisa Ochoa, for AJN. All rights reserved.

Two years ago, when I was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer in the ED of a large urban hospital, I asked a nurse if I could borrow her cell phone. Without hesitation, she handed me her Blackberry—this simple gesture was a first indication of the solidarity I’d come to feel with the nurses whose kindnesses have helped me heal.

We think it’s important to sometimes include a patient perspective in our monthly Reflections essay. “The Nurse Who Changed My Treatment,” the June Reflections essay, is by Nila Webster, who writes about the gestures by nurses, the little kindnesses and words of wisdom and encouragement, that helped her during her treatment for lung cancer and made her feel seen and understood. The essay is free, and short, so please click the link and give it a read.—JM, senior editor

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:07:27-05:00May 29th, 2013|Nursing, patient experience|1 Comment

AJN’s June Issue: Fracking, Assessing Sleep in Teens, Preventing CAUTI, More

AJN’s June issue is now available on our Web site. Here’s a selection of what not to miss.

Fracking hazards. Though we’re moving into summer, our cover does not depict a jar of fresh, local honey. It is a photograph of Washington County, Pennsylvania, resident Jenny Smitzer, holding a jar of contaminated tap water that turned that color after natural gas drilling began in 2005 above her farm. Even the best water filter jug can’t purify this. Eleven U.S. states currently engage in natural gas hydrofracking (“fracking”), and eight more are either considering or preparing for this method of gas drilling.

For an in-depth look at the potential health hazards caused by fracking, such as air pollution, working hazards, and water pollution, see our Environments and Health article, “Fracking, the Environment, and Health.” If you’re reading AJN on your iPad, you can listen to a podcast interview with the authors by clicking on the podcast icon on the first page of the article. The podcast is also available on our Web site.

Most teens get far less than the nine hours of sleep a night they require, which could affect their mental and physical health. An understanding of sleep physiology is essential to helping nurses better assess and manage sleep deprivation in teens. “Assessing Sleep in Adolescents Through a Better Understanding of Sleep Physiology” provides an overview of sleep physiology, describes sleep changes […]

Amy M. Collins, managing editor2016-12-17T14:39:29-05:00May 24th, 2013|Nursing|0 Comments

The Best Nurses Day Gift: Enough Time With Patients

What’s Left Behind, oil, graphite, and mixed media on wood panel. 18″ by 18.” Copyright J. Paradisi.

Julianna Paradisi, RN, OCN, writes a monthly post for this blog and works as an infusion nurse in outpatient oncology.

I can’t remember which handle on Twitter asked nurses last week for their stories about the best or worst Nurses Day gifts from their employers, so I will tell mine here. It began badly, but became the best.

Nurses Day in May is a cute little rhyme. In Oregon, where I live, May also brings hay fever allergy, which is neither cute nor rhymes, but like Nurses Day, is an annual event.

I woke up on the morning of Nurses Day with a headache and my voice hoarse from allergy. Previously, I had traded shifts to work this day in place of another nurse with an acutely hospitalized family member. If she and I were playing Rock, Paper, Scissors, her need was scissors to my paper.

Calling in sick was not an option. It’s part of the unwritten Nurse’s Code, which is really more of a guideline, but don’t test it. Calling in sick after agreeing to work for a coworker will not garner sympathy from your unit.

When I arrived for work, another nurse remarked that my hoarse voice sounded sexy, like actress Kathleen Turner’s. Despite my crankiness from inadequate respiratory gas […]

Julianna Paradisi, RN, OCN2016-11-21T13:07:32-05:00May 22nd, 2013|career, Nursing, nursing perspective, patient experience, Patients|2 Comments

Dispatch #2 from Melbourne: Dues, Election Results, Nursing at the WHO

By Shawn Kennedy, AJN editor-in-chief

Melbourne, Australia

There’s lots happening at the International Council of Nurses (ICN) meeting and I’ve logged more walking miles here in Melbourne in the last two days than I do in a week at home. Judith Shamian

On Monday, the Council of National Representatives (CNR), the ICN’s governing body, announced election results. Judith Shamian, a well-known Canadian nursing leader, was elected the 27th president of the ICN. (For more information about Judith and other election results, read this press release.)

The CNR also agreed to address issues related to membership models and will move forward with a plan designed to support inclusiveness and membership growth in national associations. The plan also includes a tiered voting model that takes membership and percentage of membership into account. (The final vote will take place at the 2015 Congress). Rosemary Bryant