Beyond ‘Leaning In’: Pull Up a Chair for Others

A commitment to ‘always be at the table.’

Many years after reading Sheryl Sandburg’s 2013 book, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, and watching her Ted Talk, “Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders,” the phrase “sit at the table” sticks with me.

At the time I read the book I was working for a hospital system, overseeing a large research team. I often sat in interdisciplinary meetings where the doctors would occupy the seats at the table and the support team members, often early career professionals and nurses, would sit on the periphery of the room. These seats were not assigned—it was just how people sat themselves. In her book, Sandberg observed that those who sit at the sidelines of decisions are more often seen as spectators instead of as active participants or decision-makers.

After finishing the book, I made a commitment that I would always be at the table because I refused to believe that my experience, knowledge, or opinions were any less valuable than those of anyone else in the room.

Bring a chair for someone else.

I now work in a nursing academic setting that seeks to offer an environment of belonging and inclusivity for faculty, students, […]

2024-08-12T13:36:16-04:00August 12th, 2024|equity, Nursing, nursing perspective|1 Comment
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The Epidemic of Gun Violence: A ‘Problem to Be Solved, Not a Battle to Be Won’

The alarming surge in child gun deaths

For decades, gun violence in America has been framed “as a battle to be won rather than a problem to be solved,” in the words of a poignant New York Times op-ed by Nicholas Kristof, who argues that we should acknowledge the blunt reality that guns aren’t going away. Therefore, he writes, it’s time to “bypass the culture wars and try a harm-reduction model familiar from public health efforts to reduce deaths from other dangerous products such as cars and cigarettes.”

The current combative public debate has been accompanied by devastating increases in gun violence, particularly for the youngest members of our society. According to an October 2023 study published in Pediatrics, between 2011 and 2021, gun deaths among Americans under the age of 18 surged by 87%, making gun violence the leading cause of death for American children. In stark contrast, there has been an overall steady decline of child deaths from motor vehicle fatalities, with a 51% reduction from 1999 through 2020, showcasing the potential for effective interventions when society’s most confounding issues are treated through a public health lens.

The stark reality of gun violence

The reality of gun violence in America is stark and […]

2024-08-08T09:48:27-04:00August 8th, 2024|gun violence, Nursing, pediatrics, Public health, school nurses|1 Comment
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What Nurses Say About Nursing, and What Should Change

A novel AI-assisted approach identified issues and developed recommendations.

There have been many articles about the current challenges in nursing and what might be done to improve nurses’ workplaces and retain nurses. While nurses have proven to be resilient long before, during, and since the COVID-19 pandemic, without changes by the systems in which they work, even the hardiest of nurses will become burned-out.

A recent report notes that the RN vacancy rate is almost 10% and the national turnover rate among hospital nursing staff  is 20%. Surveys cite the familiar reasons: high and intense workload, insufficient staffing, bullying, and lack of support.

Since 2021, the R3:Resilient Nurses Initiative of Maryland has been creating and providing free resources to support nurses and nursing students as they deal with the stress and challenges in health care. Recently the initiative used a unique platform, Slow Talk, to elicit discussions with nurses about their perspectives on nursing and what they think needs to happen so nurses are able to practice in ways that reflect their education and commitments. (Click here to listen to a related podcast discussion about the Slow Talk platform and its value as a place for frontline workers to share […]

2024-07-31T11:18:54-04:00July 29th, 2024|nurse staffing, Nursing, nursing perspective, nursing research|0 Comments
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Nurses’ Experiences as Patients: Recommended Reading from AJN’s August Issue

This painting by emergency physician Lindsey Ball is one of 40 in a series in which Ball painted on deidentified photocopies of electrocardiograms (ECGs). See our “On the Cover” column to learn more.

The August issue of AJN is now live.

“An ED visit and ensuing hospitalization are frightening experiences for anyone, and potentially more so for nurses, who have a deeper understanding of what is happening to them than a lay person might, and thus perhaps a greater level of fear about the consequences,” write Judith Kimchi-Woods and colleagues in this month’s Original Research article, “The Lived Experiences of Nurses as Patients: A Qualitative Study.” Based on their study findings, they offer recommendations for meeting the needs of hospitalized nurses.

To address premedication overuse in blood transfusions at their institution, the authors of “Decreasing Premedication for Blood Transfusions: A Quality Improvement Project” developed and implemented an evidence-based algorithm to guide clinicians in when to administer premedication and an electronic order to be integrated with a premedication plan for each patient on an adult hematology–oncology unit. Learn more—and earn CE credit—here.

Also in this issue, you’ll find the latest installment of AJN‘s Strip Savvy column, “A Case of Symptomatic Bradycardia After […]

2024-07-25T11:15:47-04:00July 25th, 2024|Nursing|0 Comments
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Dengue Fever: What Nurses Need to Know Now

This summer the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a health advisory as countries in the Americas report 9.7 million cases of dengue, the highest number in any year. The United States and Puerto Rico have reported 2,559 cases of dengue since January. The CDC expects the numbers to continue to rise as the environment warms.

Nurses in every specialty, but especially those who prepare individuals and families for international travel, will want to know about this latest dengue surge. All U.S. nurses will want to know how to triage, manage, and follow-up these patients to prevent local outbreaks and life-threatening complications.

Dengue (“den-gay”) fever is an age-old viral illness rapidly expanding its global impact beyond the tropics. According to the Rockefeller Foundation, “dengue fever is the most rapidly spreading mosquito-borne viral infection in the world.”

Also known as “breakbone fever” because of the painful arthralgias and myalgias associated with the infection, dengue is a common disease in the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific Islands, where it is a health risk for travelers and locals alike.

Currently 3.9 billion people are at risk in 129 countries, including certain areas of the United States. The WHO estimates […]

2024-07-18T15:10:04-04:00July 18th, 2024|climate change, infection control, infectious diseases, Nursing, Public health|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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