During Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Two Articles Examine Actions Nurses Can Take

Two articles in this month’s issue will increase nurses’ awareness of the realities of domestic violence and point to ways they can respond.

A school nurse and women’s advocate.

“Every year, I have mothers of students who are experiencing domestic violence. I see parents and children who are affected by this issue. It’s our job as nurses to see problems and to try to identify causes, trends, and possible solutions.”

The above quote is from Dawn Wilcox, BSN, RN, who was speaking in her capacity as an elementary school nurse, noting that violence against women is a preventable public health issue, one she regularly encounters in her nursing practice.

Wilcox, who I interviewed for this month’s Profile, is also the creator of the United States Femicide Database, accessible on the website of her organization, Women Count USA. It’s the only such catalog of vital details about the women and girls killed by men and boys each year in the United States.

In the article, Wilcox provides practical tips for nurses who are unsure of how to address discrimination, harassment, and violence toward women and girls. For additional information, listen to our discussion on AJN’s Behind the Article podcast.

Asking questions.

In “When ‘Love’ = Death,” […]

2019-10-16T11:43:24-04:00October 16th, 2019|Nursing, Public health|0 Comments
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Precision Medicine as a Nursing Competency

Precision medicine, genomic-driven treatment, phenotyping—it all sounded like too much dense material to cover in one article. But I’m happy to say that the authors of the October CE feature, “Knowledge of Precision Medicine and Health Care: An Essential Nursing Competency,” take this complex content and present it in a clear, straightforward, and interesting way.

‘Omics’ sciences.

We’re delighted to be able to bring you this timely and important content. As the authors explain, advances in the study of genes have given rise to the ‘omics’ sciences—the study of how genes function and how treatments can be tailored to an individual’s genetic makeup, i.e., precision medicine. While we’ve long found ways to tailor care to specific characteristics determined all or in part by genetic differences—–for example, prescription lenses to correct vision, blood typing—the completion of the Human Genome Project has given impetus to using genomics in many areas of care.

The completion of the Human Genome Project . . . provided insight into both mutations (genetic variations that occur in less than 1% of the population) and polymorphisms (genetic variations that are sufficiently common to be considered normal). Genetic variations confer not only such unique individual characteristics as eye color and blood group, but also susceptibility to such diseases as sickle cell and Tay–Sachs as well […]

2019-10-15T11:56:26-04:00October 15th, 2019|Nursing|0 Comments
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National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day: Stories That Stay With You

by dave shafer/via flickr

October 15 is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, a day of remembrance for those who have suffered a miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant loss. Ronald Reagan proclaimed October a month for recognizing this kind of loss in 1998, and a resolution to declare October 15 a day of remembrance was passed by the United States House of Representatives on September 28, 2006, following an initiative by three mothers who had suffered losses.

The day serves to promote greater awareness, remembrance, and support of the estimated one in four individuals and families whose lives are altered by the death of their children during pregnancy, at birth, and in infancy.

‘A lonely grief.’

In a way, I wish I didn’t know this. I myself suffered an unexpected, second-trimester loss two years ago. The grief, excruciating in the days and months that followed, has subsided, but never fully disappears. It is a “lonely” grief. I found that miscarriage and infant loss is a topic a lot of people tend to shy away from—they don’t always know what to say or sometimes say something unintentionally hurtful (it was God’s will, you can go on to have more children).

This can be very isolating. Only through talking about […]

2019-10-11T09:57:32-04:00October 11th, 2019|Nursing|1 Comment
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Infections in Acute Care: Still More to Do

A sharply increased focus on hospital-acquired infections (HAIs).

This month marks the 14th anniversary of the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), the CDC’s data repository for health care–associated infections. Since 2005, when a limited number of hospitals began reporting infections data, the health care community has sharply increased its focus on the prevention, early recognition, and treatment of infections in the hospital. Research on risk factors, closer attention to limiting device use (urinary catheters, central lines), and support for meticulous hand hygiene and environmental cleaning protocols have decreased rates of CAUTIs, CLABSIs, and surgical site infections.

The risk is always there.

Still, as nurses well know, hospitalized patients remain at increased risk for developing infections, especially if they are immunosuppressed or have diabetes, need invasive devices, have many comorbidities, or stay in a critical care unit.

The current evidence reviewed.

In “Infection in Acute Care: Evidence for Practice” in this month’s AJN, Douglas Houghton reviews the latest evidence on common infections in acute care settings, including community- and hospital-acquired pneumonia, surgical site infections, and C. difficile. […]

2019-10-09T10:09:54-04:00October 9th, 2019|infection control, Nursing|1 Comment
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Emergency Nursing 2019: Interactive Learning and Today’s Health Crises

The medical transport helicopter was at the ready. Meanwhile, the trauma team was in the midst of resuscitating a man. The crowd of onlookers remarked on the extreme pallor of the patient and were ready to jump in to help as needed. Fortunately, this was not a real life trauma but a scene in the exhibit hall of the sold-out Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) meeting in Austin, Texas, last week.

Four thousand ED nurses spent four days at Emergency Nursing 2019 attending educational sessions, skills labs (including a mock ED and a cadaver lab), and CE classes; viewing exhibit hall products; and relaxing in ‘Awesome Austin,’ celebrating themselves and the important work they do.

Documentary film producer Carolyn Jones (The American Nurse; Defining Hope) opened the meeting by presenting previews from her current documentary on emergency nurses, In Case of Emergency, a project in collaboration with the ENA for its 50th anniversary, to be released in May 2020. Jones and her film team traveled to seven EDs around the country, from an urban ED to rural farm country, to document ER nurses at work. […]

2019-10-07T10:13:54-04:00October 7th, 2019|Conference reports, Nursing|1 Comment
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