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February Issue: Updated Sepsis Guidelines, Chinese American Immigrants and Diabetes, Improving OR–ICU Handovers, More

The February issue of AJN is now live. Here are some of the articles we’re pleased to have a chance to publish this month.

CE: Original Research: Physical Activity Among Chinese American Immigrants with Prediabetes or Type 2 Diabetes

The benefits of exercise for patients with type 2 diabetes have been studied extensively, but not among Chinese American immigrants diagnosed with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. The authors of this mixed-methods study analyzed this population’s levels of exercise intensity, examining the types of activity performed, as well as the barriers to such activity.

CE: Managing Sepsis and Septic Shock: Current Guidelines and Definitions

This article discusses recent updates to the Surviving Sepsis Campaign’s sepsis treatment guidelines, changes in the sepsis bundle interventions, and the new definitions and predictive tools introduced in the Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock.

Moving Closer to the 2020 BSN-Prepared Workforce Goal

The authors report findings from the four-year Academic Progression in Nursing initiative to identify and develop the most promising strategies for creating a more highly educated nursing workforce.

Cultivating Quality: A Multidisciplinary QI Initiative to Improve OR–ICU Handovers

This QI study […]

Diane Szulecki, editor2018-01-26T09:32:47-05:00January 26th, 2018|Nursing|0 Comments

The Role of Prevention and Standardized Care in Improving CKD Outcomes

Slowing Chronic Kidney Disease Progression

Most nurses have worked with patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Their condition may have been related to diabetes, high blood pressure, an acute infection, or other assaults on the kidney. I’ve tended to see a diagnosis of CKD as the beginning of an inevitable decline. Certainly, “prevention” didn’t seem a relevant concept at this point; my role was to assess and monitor, teach and support, and hope for the best.

Fig. 1. The Nephron. Blood flows into the nephron through the glomerulus. Filtrate from the glomerulus flows into Bowman’s capsule, then through the proximal tubule, the loop of Henle, and the distal tubule, a series of tubules that modifies the filtrate primarily by reabsorbing water and […]

Betsy Todd, MPH, RN2017-03-14T12:02:17-04:00February 15th, 2017|Nursing, Public health|0 Comments

Blood Glucose Meters in the ICU: Quick, Useful, But Regulatory Issues Still Unresolved

By Betsy Todd, clinical editor, MPH, RN, CIC

Photo © Life in View/Science Source.

Many time-saving clinical technologies are available today that were unheard of at the start of my nursing career. Have we always given careful thought to how this technology is applied? A controversy about the safe use of point-of-care (POC) blood glucose meters (BGMs) in the ICU is a case in point.

Quick, minimally invasive bedside blood glucose monitoring has become the standard of care in hospitals and nursing homes. Interestingly, though, the original FDA approval of POC BGMs was for at-home use only. But the agency waived any restrictions on inpatient use, as long as staff performing the tests were properly trained and the patients were not critically ill. The use of BGMs in critically ill patients is considered “off label.”

Early in 2014, the FDA proposed new regulatory requirements for BGM use in hospitals. Apparently in response to the FDA’s proposal, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services then issued a memorandum of intent to cite and even fine hospitals for the off-label use of BGMs in critical care. A huge outcry from clinicians ensued. […]

Betsy Todd, MPH, RN2016-11-21T13:01:19-05:00April 6th, 2016|Nursing, nursing perspective|2 Comments

AJN in April: Nurses and Self-Care, Late HL Treatment Effects, POC Blood Glucose Meters in ICUs, More

AJN0416.Cover.Online

On this month’s cover is a 1924 portrait of the Grace Hospital School of Nursing basketball team in Detroit. Most nursing schools had basketball teams in their early days—as far back as the 1920s. This photo of the Grace Hospital team was featured in the September 1924 issue of AJN in an article on basketball in Detroit nursing schools.

Understanding the importance of maintaining physical well-being is a fundamental aspect of nursing. For a variety of reasons, including competing priorities and the demands of caring for others, nurses may not practice sufficient self-care. To read a study that analyzed how today’s RNs fare in terms of health-promoting behaviors like physical activity, stress management, and more, see “Original Research: An Investigation into the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Practices of RNs.” While “physical activity and stress management scores were low for the entire group of RNs,” there were some notable differences between age groups of nurses.

Some other articles of note in the April issue:

CE Feature: “Cardiotoxicity and Breast Cancer as Late Effects of Pediatric and Adolescent Hodgkin Lymphoma Treatment.” This second article in a series on cancer survivorship care from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center reviews the late adverse effects associated with the management of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). Nurses’ familiarity with and attention to the late effects of the chemotherapy and radiation therapy used to treat HL, which include breast cancer as well […]

Diane Szulecki, editor2016-11-21T13:01:20-05:00March 25th, 2016|Nursing, nursing research|0 Comments

AJN in February: Latino RNs in the U.S., Nurse Bullying, Hypoglycemia in Older Adults, More

On this month’s cover, nurse Sarah Carruth comforts a young patient at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC. This photo is the second-place winner of AJN’s 2015 Faces of Caring: Nurses at Work photo contest, in which readers worldwide submitted candid photos of nurses on the job.

When the child’s parents had to leave the room and he became unsettled, Carruth held him and comforted him with a stuffed toy. She says the photo captures the important type of quiet moment that often gets lost in the bustle: “It can be so busy that you forget about the times when you get to show that you care.”

Having worked as a pediatric nurse for 15 years, Carruth knows that meeting the emotional needs of children is a crucial aspect of caring for them. “It’s not just about giving medicine and assessing vital signs,” she says. “They need the time to be loved.”

Some articles of note in the February issue:

Original Research: “Latino Nurses in the United States: An Overview of Three Decades (1980–2010).” Latinos are underrepresented in the nursing workforce. The authors of this article find that while the overall number of Latinos has grown dramatically in the U.S. over the 30-year study period, the number of Latino nurses has not. As the Latino population in the U.S. continues to increase, nursing education programs and institutions will need to do more to […]