COVID-19 for Nurses: Skip the Rumors and Stick to the Basics

(Published: February 28. Editor’s note: much information in this post is now dated and the post should be read only as a response to a particular moment in time. COVID-19 is now officially a pandemic and has rapidly spread worldwide. While rumors and misinformation were, sadly, already very much in play when this was written, and the overall tone of this post was neutral and descriptive according to our knowledge at that current moment, the post only remains live for archiving purposes. Our most recent posts on the crisis can be found here.)

In the U.S. at the time of this writing, the major risk presented by the current novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is not from the disease itself but from misinformation. Rumors, misinterpretations, and conspiracy theories are being transmitted at a rate far greater than that of the coronavirus itself. While the situation is evolving rapidly and things can change quickly, our understanding of the illness has also grown in a remarkably  short period of time.

So, is this a pandemic?

In an NPR interview this week, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the term is used to suggest that the spread of a new infection is out of control and doing significant damage worldwide. We are not quite there yet. COVID-19 transmission in China appears to have plateaued, and, while the virus has been detected in numerous other countries this week, several countries have also been successful in controlling the spread of COVID-19 within […]

2020-03-19T14:34:33-04:00February 28th, 2020|infectious diseases, Public health|13 Comments
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The Sound of Silence: Racism in Nursing

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”   -Dr. Martin Luther King

One of the conundrums I face when writing stories from my nursing career is the question “whose story is it?” For instance, does observing an act of racism give the observer the right to tell the story of what happened to another person? Does telling the story with the intent of exposing the ugliness of racism make it okay?

by julianna paradisi

It’s February, Black History Month. How can a white woman, a registered nurse, discuss race issues in a profession in which only 7.8% of the workforce is black without sounding ignorant, or worse, racist herself? Once or twice in the past I’ve made well-intended comments that revealed my own blind spots when talking about race. Fortunately, these were brought to my attention by friends who understood my good intentions, however misguided. I’m grateful for their support, and compassion. Like learning a new language, using the right words when talking about race requires commitment, practice, and a little bit of courage.

‘Here’s the chart. Answer the man’s questions.’

Years ago, I encountered a surgeon I’d never met before who repeatedly asked me for updates […]

2020-02-26T09:39:39-05:00February 26th, 2020|Nursing|3 Comments
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March Issue: Brain Death Criteria Update, Inadequate Physical Activity in Female Cancer Survivors, More

“. . . there is no underestimating the power of meaning to bolster individuals and the power of meaninglessness to sap them of the will to go on.”—Henry Bair, author of the March Reflections column, “Waiting for Jerry”

The March issue of AJN is now live! Here are the highlights:

Original Research: Arthritis-Related Functional Limitations and Inadequate Physical Activity Among Female Adult Cancer Survivors

This study uses data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to examine the extent to which functional limitations due to arthritis are predictive of low physical activity levels in female cancer survivors.

CE: Brain Death: History, Updates, and Implications for Nurses

The authors review the development of brain death criteria, describe recent controversies and criteria updates, and discuss considerations for nurses who care for patients declared dead by neurologic criteria. […]

2020-02-24T09:40:14-05:00February 24th, 2020|Nursing|0 Comments
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Will your ‘RN’ Name Tag Protect You from Violence?

When I stepped into the entryway, I was met by a group of men, crouched on the floor over a game of craps and shouting excitedly. One of them stood up when he saw me come through the door . . . He dropped the dice, pulled a gun from his waist, and pointed it at my face.

Workplace violence prevention training has become the latest mandatory education module in many hospitals. But what about nurses who work in non-hospital settings? In this month’s Viewpoint, “Workplace Violence Outside the Hospital Setting,” NP and visiting nurse Joanne Schmidt describes the terrifying situation she walked into one day at the start of her morning home visits.

In many community settings, no cameras or security staff.

Schmidt points out that nurses who work in home care, mobile medical vans, school clinics, and other community-based settings may be considerably less safe every single day than those of us who work in relatively protected hospital environments. At least in acute care there are cameras and security staff! […]

2020-02-20T10:55:11-05:00February 20th, 2020|Nursing, nursing stories|1 Comment
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Can We Ever Overcome Burnout in Nursing?

Reality shock redux.

Flickr / Harshit Sekhon

It seems to me that we’ve been talking about burnout about as long as I’ve been in nursing, and that’s over 40 years. In 1974, Marlene Kramer’s book Reality Shock: Why Nurses Leave Nursing reported on how nurses’ dissatisfaction with their inability to practice as they were taught was a major factor in their leaving the profession. (Here’s AJN’s 1975 review of the book.) In the 1980s, it was the downsizing of staff that caused many to leave (see the February editorial for my own experience). In the last decade, as health system changes and staffing (again) engendered moral distress and burnout among members, nursing organizations sought ways to mitigate distress among nurses.

Burnout’s persistence as an issue.

But the issue persists and arguably has gotten worse, with increasingly alarming reports of high levels of burnout—between 34% and 54% physicians and nurses report symptoms—and suicides.

To address the problem, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NAM) established a 17-member committee to review the research on the causes […]

2020-02-18T11:56:44-05:00February 18th, 2020|Nursing|1 Comment
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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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