Recognizing Perimenopause: And Other November Issue Highlights

The November issue of AJN is now live.

Here are some highlights. Some articles are open access or temporarily free; others will require log-in for access.

On this month’s cover is Self-portrait with estrogen patch 1 (bathroom mirror selfie), a painting by Irish artist Éadaoin Glynn. See On the Cover for more about this work.

Typically starting in the late 30s to mid-40s and lasting several years, perimenopause—the hormonal transition preceding menopause—may cause insomnia, mood changes, and anxiety. This month’s CE article, “When a Psychiatric Diagnosis Is Actually Perimenopause,” outlines how to recognize perimenopause, conduct a hormonally informed assessment, and facilitate management, and also debunks common clinical misconceptions. (For more on this topic, see the editorial by AJN managing editor Amy Collins, “Recognizing and Managing Perimenopause.”)

According to 2003-2020 National Violent Death Reporting System data, U.S. nurses accounted for the greatest number of homicide decedents, as well as the highest homicide rate, among 10 health professions. In “Homicides of Nurses in the United States, 2003-2022: An Exploratory Study,” Carolyn M. Porta and colleagues describe the epidemiology of homicides of nurses, identify factors associated with such homicides, and propose new preventive strategies. This article is free to read.

The latest installment in our Evidence-Based Decision-Making series presents the DNP Project Roadmap 2025 as an evidence-based quality improvement framework for faculty and students. (Open access)

In “LPNs/LVNs in Long-Term Care, Hospitals, and Home Health: A Comparative Analysis,” the authors compare demographic and professional characteristics of the LPN/LVN workforce across these three settings.

A Quality Improvement article, “Increasing Early Inpatient Hospitalization Discharges,” describes an initiative to improve discharge times for inpatients on an intermediate surgical unit using a multidisciplinary team approach and visual, nonverbal communication.

Finally, don’t miss the extensive health care news section, the Drug Watch and Journal Watch departments, and an open-access Special Feature on clinical nursing during the Vietnam War and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Browse and subscribe.

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