Marijuana Linked to Elevated Heart Attack Risk in Young Adults

Photo © Shuttertock.

Association is stronger when marijuana use is frequent.

As the decriminalization of marijuana becomes more widespread, its use is on the rise among young adults. Yet, the effects on overall health have not been well studied, including how marijuana use affects cardiovascular health.

Now a large-scale study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal has found an association between recent marijuana use and increased risk of myocardial infarction (MI) in young people, ages 18 to 44 years. The association was strongest among those who used marijuana at least four times a month, primarily by smoking it. Users who vaped or ingested marijuana through baked goods or other edibles also had a higher incidence of MI compared with nonusers, but only those who smoked frequently showed elevated risk that was statistically significant.

The study was based on 2017 and 2018 behavioral risk survey data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It sought to evaluate known evidence of cardiovascular effects of marijuana in the context of MI risk for individual users. Marijuana’s chemical components can increase myocardial oxygen demand while simultaneously reducing blood flow to the myocardium. This cannabis-induced oxygen supply and demand mismatch, in the setting of […]

2021-12-07T11:34:08-05:00December 7th, 2021|Nursing, Public health|0 Comments
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What Can We Do About Addressing Nurse Exhaustion?

“Even when good workplace policies and support exist, without enough staff to meet essential patient needs, nurse fatigue cannot be properly addressed.”

Photo by Matthew Waring on Unsplash

When I was working as an ED nurse, if a colleague was out sick we’d invariably be asked to work a double shift—so, 16 hours instead of our usual eight-hour shift. It wasn’t bad as a one-time occurrence. But I can’t imagine how nurses have managed working five or more days of 12-hour shifts in a row, or even more, during the surges of Covid-19 patients needing hospitalization in various parts of this country. It’s no wonder there are so many stories and reports of nurses leaving the acute care setting.

While the obvious answer is that there needs to be more staff to share the work, not only to improve staff well-being but also to make care safer—and this is not a COVID-induced phenomena; we’ve known this for years thanks to research by Linda Aiken and others—getting that to happen has largely been unsuccessful.

Hospitals staff conservatively as a policy, causing many to be short-staffed on an almost ongoing basis. This makes for a stressful work environment that in turn causes nurses to leave, thus further exacerbating […]

2021-12-03T09:51:29-05:00December 3rd, 2021|Nursing|0 Comments
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Therapeutic Humor in Nursing: More Important Than Ever

Nursing during a pandemic is no laughing matter…but it was for me.

Photo by Mathias Konrath on Unsplash

Assessing mental health patients over the phone at the VA was always challenging. I worked with the primary care providers, assessing new patients and getting them the right mental health resources.

Little did I know it was going to be taken to another level during the pandemic. It was Covid mental health mayhem: Covid cold calls, suicidal calls, PTSD patients plummeting with increased isolation and hospitalizations. There was increased depression, anxiety, and insomnia (and that was just the RN staff members, LOL!).

I couldn’t control this pandemic, my frustration over anti-vaxxers, the fatigue, fears, or sadness. But what I realized I could control was my daily interactions with the patients. I had to do review the PHQ-9 questionnaire for major depression symptoms and the GAD for anxiety. Once I’d finished the mental health assessments, I’d concentrate on the behavioral activation their results suggested.

Cultivating patient connection through laughter.

Having taken part in research on the therapeutic benefits of humor, one strategy I often used with these patients was to ask them, “What made you laugh today?”

At first, many couldn’t think of anything. So I decided to ask about more specific […]

2021-12-01T08:29:30-05:00December 1st, 2021|Nursing|2 Comments
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Looking for Positive Things As We Near Thanksgiving

As we near Thanksgiving, I increasingly find myself looking for positive things—partly to help diminish my sadness about the still-mounting COVID-19 deaths and the nearly universal strain that everyone, perhaps especially those in health care, seems to be feeling.

As I wrote in last November’s editorial:

“Though I’m by no means a Pollyanna, I do believe incessant dwelling on the negatives doesn’t help any of us; we also need to examine the positives. I recall how exhausting it was to work a long, hard shift alongside someone who complained about everything. The negativity colored my own perceptions and stayed with me well after the shift ended. Conversely, working with colleagues who offered support and voiced a “we will get through this” attitude inspired confidence and optimism. My first nurse manager in the ED was superb at this, especially during some very harrowing shifts.” […]

2021-11-23T15:17:39-05:00November 23rd, 2021|wellness|0 Comments
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December Issue: Nurse Fatigue Solutions, Addressing Misinformation, More

“Nurses don’t care about being heroes. They want to be respected, protected, and enabled to do their jobs.”—editor-in-chief Shawn Kennedy in her December editorial, “Finding Joy in the Dark”

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

CE: Nurses Are More Exhausted Than Ever: What Should We Do About It?

This article discusses causes and challenges of nurse fatigue, evidence-based strategies and solutions for individual nurses and organizations, and changes needed to transform nursing culture and workplaces into more supportive environments for nurses.

Clinical Feature: Care Coordination: A Concept Analysis

The authors clarify care coordination as a concept and practice role and examine the value that nursing brings to its implementation.

Special Feature: A New Framework for Practice–Academic Partnerships During the Pandemic—and into the Future

This article outlines a model to provide nursing students with in-person clinical experiences during a public health crisis such as COVID-19, as well as the implications of using this model once the pandemic ends. […]

2021-11-22T08:39:18-05:00November 22nd, 2021|Nursing|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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