2021: A Year of Hope and Heartbreak

Photo of AJN editor-in-chief Shawn Kennedy

(This post is a reshare of AJN‘s January issue editorial; to browse the rest of the issue, visit our website, ajnonline.)

Last January, our cover was an artist’s rendering of the planet Earth as a SARS-CoV-2 virus molecule. In my accompanying editorial, I wrote that it was “unfathomable that over 275,000 Americans have died from COVID-19” and that the number would likely increase. Now here we are, a year later, with another COVID-19 cover. The white flags in the cover photo, installed on the National Mall in Washington, DC, by artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg, represent each person who has died from the virus. Sadly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of November 28 this number had reached 776,070—well over double last year’s tally. The flags offer a stark visual image of the magnitude of our loss.

What’s especially startling is that the United States leads all countries in both deaths and confirmed cases. The World Health Organization reports that, as of November 29, U.S. confirmed COVID-19 cases totaled 47,837,599; India was second with 34,580,832. Globally, 5,200,267 people have died from the disease. It’s disheartening that the United States has lost so many people and could lose so many more, given that vaccines are available.

There was hope that the two vaccines that received […]

January Issue: The Year in Review, Nurses’ COVID-19 Communication Challenges, More

“Innovations and revelations that came about because of the pandemic . . . will perhaps drive badly needed system changes. There is reason to hope that 2022 will be a better year.”—editor-in-chief Shawn Kennedy in her January editorial, “2021: A Year of Hope and Heartbreak”

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

Original Research: Nurses’ Experiences of Caring for Patients and Families During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Communication Challenges

This qualitative descriptive study examined nurses’ perceptions and experiences of communicating with patients and families under the pandemic’s socially restrictive practices and policies.

In the News: The Year in Review: 2021

The top health care, clinical, and social justice news stories of the year, plus stories to watch in 2022. Also see our coverage of nursing and COVID-19, the pandemic’s hidden toll, and the climate crisis.

CE: Diagnosing and Managing Migraine

An overview of migraine pathophysiology, prevalence, risk factors, assessment, and acute and prophylactic treatment in the outpatient primary care setting.
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2021-12-28T11:14:28-05:00December 28th, 2021|Nursing|0 Comments

Best Wishes from AJN for the Winter Holidays and Coming Year

2021-12-23T09:34:03-05:00December 23rd, 2021|Nursing|0 Comments

How Can You Bear to Be a Nurse? A Classic Question Revisited

In 1987, Mary Mallison, editor of AJN, posed a provocative question in her editorial: “How can you bear to be a nurse?” She offered several questions that the public often asks nurses, and provided clever (and sometimes powerful) responses that nurses could use to correct the public’s misunderstanding. A few examples:

How can you be a nurse? How can you bear the sight of blood?
Wait until you slide a catheter into a tiny vein just before it collapses. The flashback of blood you see will make you sing.

How can you be a nurse? How can you bear the sight and smell of feces?
Wait until you’ve been anxious about the diarrhea that nothing has stopped in an AIDS patient. Finally, your strategies work and you see and smell normal stool. You’ll welcome that smell.

How can you be a nurse? So many of your patients are so old, so sick, these days. How can you bear the thought that, in the end, your care may make no difference?
Wait until you’ve used your hands and eyes and voice to dispel terror, to show a helpless person that his life is respected, that he has dignity. Your caring helps him […]

2021-12-21T10:20:52-05:00December 21st, 2021|Nursing|2 Comments

The Gift of Feedback

By Giulia May/Unsplash

In a recent Schwartz Rounds session at my hospital, the facilitators centered the discussion around the theme, “The Gift of Feedback.” As I listened to the panelists share their experiences, I recalled two recent exchanges with colleagues I’ve developed positive working relationships with over the years.

One was with a hardworking care partner (CP) who has been in our unit for about six years. The other exchange was with an attending physician who had been a well-respected leader in our PICU long before my 11 years working there. I find both to be very kind and very professional.

Asking a care partner for feedback.

As one of the more experienced bedside nurses in our unit, about once every four to six weeks I fill the role of relief charge nurse. I’ve done it enough over the years to feel decently comfortable in the role, but I do it so infrequently that each time I find myself relearning aspects of the role.

The charge nurse always sits in the same station as the care partner who manages the front desk. This individual gets a close-up view of how all the different relief charge nurses handle the role. One day towards the end of a busy shift, I turned […]

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