AJN June Issue: Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy, Preventing Nonventilator Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia, More

“In addition to vaccine hesitancy, there is the question of access. The pandemic has shone a bright spotlight on disparities in access to both vaccines and health care.”—editor-in-chief Shawn Kennedy in her editorial, “Moving Forward Together”

The June issue of AJN is now live. Here’s what’s new. Some articles may be free only to subscribers.

Original Research: Oral Care as Prevention for Nonventilator Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia: A Four-Unit Cluster Randomized Study

The authors examined the effectiveness of a universal, standardized oral care protocol in preventing nonventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia in the acute care setting.

CE: Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy

The authors discuss the growing interest in psychedelic therapies—such as LSD, MDMA, and psilocybin—for the treatment of mental health disorders, including trauma, depression, and addiction, as well as the potential role of nursing in this emerging field.

Question of Practice: Preventing Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration

How vaccinators can avoid this potential complication of improper needle placement by using appropriate injection technique.
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2021-05-24T09:39:31-04:00May 24th, 2021|Nursing|0 Comments
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Addressing Clinician Mental Health and Suicide Risk During the Pandemic

Pandemics are known to cause panic disorder, anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, and posttraumatic stress. Depression can lead to suicide if not treated, yet is a treatable disease. We have seen nurses die by suicide during this pandemic in Italy.

Past experience suggests that health care workers exposed to the stress of the pandemic will need help long after the pandemic is under control.

I am serving as co-chair of the Strength Through Resilience task force of the American Nurses Association, whose focus was originally to collate resources to reduce suicide among nurses. We quickly shifted gears when the pandemic hit to collate resources to optimize resiliency and mental health among nurses in relation to the projected impact of the pandemic. Curiously, these resources are virtually identical. The ANA has posted initial resources as part of their Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation campaign and is and building more resources as quickly as possible.

Nurses already at higher suicide risk.

The added stress of the pandemic is particularly problematic because of evidence that emerged before the pandemic that nurses were at higher risk of suicide than the general public. If leaders at health care organizations have not already started proactively screening staff […]

2020-05-12T16:27:31-04:00May 12th, 2020|COVID-19, mental illness, Nursing, Public health|0 Comments
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The Health Impacts of Hurricane Harvey—What Nurses Need to Know

Geocolor imagery of Hurricane Harvey on verge of making landfall. Image created by the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere.

As Hurricane Harvey, now a tropical storm, continues to affect a large area of southern Texas and other parts of the South, the full impact on human health has yet to be determined. But it’s clear the flooding has caused a historical crisis in Houston and surrounding areas—and that nurses and other health professionals will be in great demand in the coming days, weeks, and months.

Short- and Long-Term Health Concerns

The short- and long-term health consequences people are facing as they escape rising water levels are detailed in the Washington Post. Although drowning is the most immediate and dangerous threat during a flood, those seeking safety are also endangered by sharp objects and even wild animals caught up in floodwaters. Mold and its impact on human health will be a concern in the coming weeks and months, as water-damaged buildings are reoccupied.

In the meantime, health authorities are worried about the spread of infectious diseases. As sewage contaminates the floodwaters and people crowd […]

2017-08-30T10:32:03-04:00August 30th, 2017|climate change, environmental health, Nursing, Public health|0 Comments
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June Issue Highlights: Understanding Antipsychotics, Talking to Pregnant Smokers, IBS Basics

The June issue of AJN is now live. Here are some articles we’d like to bring to your attention.

CE Feature: Mental Health Matters: Antipsychotic Medications

In recent years, more adults—and teenagers—are taking at least one type of psychotropic medication, the majority of which are prescribed by primary care and family physicians. This first article in a series on commonly used psychotropic medications for the treatment of mental illness reviews the mechanisms of action, adverse effects, and contraindications of first-generation typical and second-generation atypical antipsychotics.

CE Feature: Original Research: The Experiences of Pregnant Smokers and Their Providers

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 10.7% of women nationwide reported smoking during their last trimester. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ initiative Healthy People 2020 targets tobacco use, including smoking during pregnancy, as a continuing major health concern in this country. Yet bringing the U.S. Public Health Service’s 2008 clinical practice guideline, Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence, into routine prenatal care remains challenging.  The authors of this study conducted focus groups of pregnant smokers and their providers, most of whom were RNs, to better understand their experiences and to gain insights to help providers best deliver the stop-smoking message.

Clinical Feature: 

2017-05-30T11:44:24-04:00May 30th, 2017|Nursing|0 Comments
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AJN in April: Nurse Perceptions of Risk for Harm, Climate Change and Mental Health, More

The April issue of AJN is now live. Here are some articles we’d like to bring to your attention.

CE Feature: Original Research: Do Nurses or Electronic Assessment Tools Better Predict Risk for Harm?

In many hospitals, nurse-led “safety huddles” are used to relay patient safety information, although whether this effectively identifies patients at risk for harm has not been determined. New electronic risk assessment tools are designed to identify patients at risk for harm during hospitalization, based on specific markers in the electronic health record. The authors of this study compared the results of both methods, finding statistically significant differences in the way nurses and data mining software identify risk of harm. In many instances, factors that the software captured had been anticipated by the nurses or were already addressed in the plan of care.

CE Feature: Overactive Bladder in Women

This article provides an evidence-based review of the screening, assessment, and management of overactive bladder in women, many of whom do not seek help for the condition and try to self-manage its symptoms, which may inadvertently worsen them. Those with overactive bladder often experience related physical and psychological symptoms and report a poorer quality of life than other […]

2017-03-27T09:34:06-04:00March 27th, 2017|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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