December Issue Highlights: Community-Acquired Pneumonia, Nurses’ COVID-19 Experiences, More

“As we go forward from this difficult year, we should take great pride in the fact that, perhaps for the first time, nurses’ work, commitment, and skills are visible all over the world.”—editor-in-chief Shawn Kennedy in her editorial, “Moving On from the (Unimaginable) Year of the Nurse and the Midwife“

The December issue of AJN is now live. Here are some highlights.

Original Research: Assessing Organizational Focus on Health Literacy in North Texas Hospitals

“This mixed-methods study adds to the growing body of evidence for a lack of health literate practices in health care organizations.”

Community-Acquired Pneumonia: A Review of Current Diagnostic Criteria and Management

This article discusses the 2019 American Thoracic Society/Infectious Diseases Society of America guideline on CAP diagnosis and treatment and provides an update on risk factors, signs and symptoms, and recommendations for treatment, discharge, and prevention.

Special Report: Frontline Nurses Say ‘Never Again’

A summary of a new report from the Frontline Nurses WikiWisdom Forum—an initiative of New Voice Strategies, the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, and AJN—in which nurses share their COVID-19 experiences and offer strategies to successfully manage future health care crises.

[…]

2020-11-23T09:26:16-05:00November 23rd, 2020|Nursing|0 Comments
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Gratitude or Regrets? Contemplating Last Words

“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory” -Dr. Suess*

Two losses in two days.

by dave shafer/via flickr

Recently, I experienced two unexpected deaths within the span of two days. The first was the passing was of our family’s first dog, who lived with us for 15 years. She was a healthy dog, but suffered from a stroke three days before her death, which disabled her from walking or standing up on her own.

She had symptoms of a suspected brain tumor for months, but she suffered the most during the last three days. Since she was not able to stand up or eat solid food, our family made the difficult decision to relieve our girl from her pain and say goodbye to our dog.

During the same time, my 75-year-old mother, who battled lung cancer for 12 years, went to the emergency department for pain on her right side. Once arriving at the ED, she was prescribed antibiotics to manage her symptoms and then discharged from the hospital. Although she seemed better for a time after returning home, her pain suddenly became unmanageable and she returned to the […]

2020-11-20T09:42:51-05:00November 20th, 2020|Nursing|1 Comment
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Finally a Mandate for Masks in North Dakota-But What Will It Mean?

by Joanne Disch, PHD, RN, FAAN, former president of the American Academy of Nursing

On Monday, November 9, North Dakota governor Doug Burgum issued a new policy that allows health care workers who are COVID-positive but asymptomatic to continue working at hospitals and nursing homes. This is in response to a dramatic increase of COVID cases, with hospitals at near 100% capacity and a shortage of an adequate supply of nurses across the state.

And on Wednesday, November 11, the state set its eighth-consecutive daily record for active cases, reaching 11,656. According to the Associated Press, North Dakota continued “to lead the nation in daily new COVID-19 cases per capita . . . , with one in every 83 residents of the state testing positive for the virus in just the past week.”

Unsurprising result of state’s laissez-faire approach.

While shocking, this is not surprising: North Dakota has been one of the states that has consistently rejected mask mandates or social distancing practices and been slow to reduce elective procedures or limit the business hours of restaurants and bars.

Without having taken these preventive steps, the state now faces a significant crisis. It’s unconscionable that nurses and […]

2020-11-17T13:01:05-05:00November 17th, 2020|health care policy, Nursing, Public health|0 Comments
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Despite Marijuana Legalization Trend, Licensure Pitfalls for Nurses Remain

Voters in still more states opt for marijuana legalization.

THC-infused gummies

If there’s a chance something you’re doing, even if it’s legal in your state, could nevertheless endanger your nursing license or cost you your job, are you likely to risk it? This is the quandary many nurses find themselves in when it comes to the use of medical or recreational marijuana or even cannnabidiol (CBD) oil.

During the November presidential election, five more states voted on ballot initiatives to legalize either recreational marijuana (Arizona, New Jersey, and South Dakota), medical marijuana (Mississippi), or in one case (Montana) both at the same time. Every year more states legalize medical and/or recreational marijuana.

And CBD, a hemp-derived compound that in certain formulations contains trace amounts of the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, THC, has rapidly become available in stores, cafes, and online and in multiple forms.

Whether prescribed by a physician and obtained at a medical marijuana dispensary, purchased legally in a state that allows its sale for recreational use, or obtained through other means, marijuana is increasingly being used by Americans for a wide range of problems major and minor, including chemotherapy-induced nausea, insomnia, epilepsy, and certain types of chronic pain. CBD oil in various forms is also being widely used for multiple health conditions.

Marijuana is still classified […]

2021-04-02T15:34:27-04:00November 16th, 2020|Nursing, nursing career|0 Comments
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Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Critical Role for Nurses in Screening and Interventions

“‘What’s the scoop with our autism screening?’ a concerned mother asked the nurse upon realizing that the autism spectrum disorder screening questionnaire she had completed wasn’t addressed during her daughter’s well-child visit. The nurse brought the mother’s concern to the primary care provider, who replied, ‘Don’t worry, I only look at screenings if I think there’s a problem. I can spot autism during a patient visit.’”

Is this provider’s confident claim a realistic one? Almost certainly not, as will become clear to anyone who reads the CE articles on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the October (“From the CDC: Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder“) and November (“Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Nurse’s Role“) issues of AJN. As a result of such casual attitudes toward screening, many autistic children are almost certainly not receiving the early treatment and monitoring that can make a big difference in their quality of life.

Delayed diagnosis reduces the window for effective interventions.

ASD is the most common developmental disability in the United States, yet according to the November CE article, screening rates across the U.S. range from a low of 17.2% in Mississippi to a high of less than 60% in Oregon. […]

2020-11-12T10:16:12-05:00November 12th, 2020|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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