The Particular Pain and Challenge of Educating Patients During a Worldwide Pandemic

Working in a rural community access hospital during the pandemic has been a struggle. Here as in many areas of the U.S., many in the surrounding community have not accepted the the existence of a virus like Covid-19. Against the backdrop of this widespread disbelief in the reality of the virus, the “government-mandated” vaccine was a final straw for many.

Many of these patients wholeheartedly believe that the vaccine is the “mark of the beast” mentioned in the Book of Revelation and that this is the beginning of the end of the world, with getting the vaccine understood as an expression of loyalty to Satan.

This belief is shared by various religious groups in other areas of our country. Many patients in our community also believe the vaccine is made with stem cells and fetal tissue and includes microchips. There are widely circulated rumors of tracking devices in the vaccine itself.

How do we as nurses and advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) educate patients on the science of vaccinations in the face of the anger and passion we experience daily from a suspicious community?

The many other strains on nurses.

It hasn’t helped that nurses and APRNs alike have had to deal with more than they bargained for on many levels […]

2022-02-24T14:38:16-05:00February 24th, 2022|Nursing, patient engagement, Public health|0 Comments
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‘I Didn’t Think It Would Happen to Me’

A daughter notices cognitive changes in her mother, a former geriatrics nurse.

Illustration by Janet Hamlin for AJN.

This month’s Reflections essay, “In Full Bloom,” is a gentle, humane exploration of what it’s like when an aging parent shows signs of cognitive decline. Author Diane Fraser deftly weaves memory, incident, and reflection together in this bittersweet one-page essay.

She describes her mother’s dawning realization of the hard reality of her own aging. “I’m old,” she said. “I’m really old.”

And then later, perhaps also alluding to her worsening dementia:

“I didn’t think it would happen to me. . . Those were my patients. This is me.”

There’s a family birthday party. An annual visit to a lilac festival where the author begins to find certain aspects of her mother’s behavior puzzling.

This is all described with lightness and respect. It’s just how it is, the author seems to suggest. We might as well make the best of it.

She remembers the sometimes bawdy stories her […]

2021-11-01T10:19:57-04:00November 1st, 2021|Nursing|0 Comments
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Precepting: Revisiting Ground Rules with My New Grad RN

A return to precepting.

By Suzanne D. Williams/Unsplash

There is no question that precepting new grad RNs requires a lot of extra thought, time, and energy for bedside nurses also looking to take care of our patients and their family members. But even as an introvert who finds it challenging to talk nearly nonstop for an entire 12-hour shift, I have in the past still enjoyed precepting. I’ve found it deeply rewarding to watch someone under my mentorship grow in skill and confidence as a young nurse.

When the pandemic hit and sent my young children home for distance learning, I took a break from precepting, as my capacity for additional mentoring at work had shrunk significantly.

Now that my children are back on their school campus, I am preparing to precept a new grad who is part of a cohort that went through nursing school during a pandemic with considerable limitations to their clinical experiences. As I dust off my own preceptor hat, I have found myself revisiting what I want to lay out as a foundation for my new preceptee. […]

2021-10-14T09:47:10-04:00October 14th, 2021|career, new nurses, Nursing, nursing career|3 Comments
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The Power of Pictures in Therapeutic Healing

Sam was a 17-year-old who had been admitted following a major traumatic leg injury. The surgical teams were trying to save his leg.

A colleague asked me to ”pop in” on him, since he was having a hard time coping. Frankly, he was completely bummed out.

Sam and his mom were together in his room waiting to go to OR. I introduced myself as a nurse working with the pain management/spiritual care team. Conversation was stiff but polite. Sam made no eye contact with me at all.

Building relationships takes time.

photo courtesy of author

Following his procedure, I made a point of stopping by to visit almost every day. Mom had warmed up to me—Sam just a bit. It was an isolating time in the hospital. Visitors were not allowed, except for a single family member for pediatric patients, and the contacts with staff were often task focused and purposeful. One afternoon, I saw mom sitting in the hallway talking on her cell phone, crying. So I waited.

When she ended her call, I asked if she’d like some company. Our conversation found its way from the hospital to the kitchen, stopping along the way as we shared family and shopping tidbits. She laughed and we connected. I also learned a […]

2021-09-07T08:34:46-04:00September 7th, 2021|nursing perspective, nursing students, patient engagement|0 Comments
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Children’s Mental Health Crisis Reveals Holes in System

You don’t have to look far for evidence that the mental health of children and adolescents has been entering a crisis in recent years, one exacerbated by the unusual conditions imposed by Covid-19.

The June 18 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) from the CDC reported:

During February 21–March 20, 2021, suspected suicide attempt ED visits were 50.6% higher among girls aged 12–17 years than during the same period in 2019; among boys aged 12–17 years, suspected suicide attempt ED visits increased 3.7%.

Photo by Yasser Chalid/Getty Images

As noted in a recent Washington Post story, “Emergency departments have meanwhile become a tattered safety net for adolescent mental health care.”

In this month’s AJN, Betsy Todd summarizes some of the current issues seen by school nurses and other health care professionals like nurse practitioners (NPs), who often feel overwhelmed by the intensity of the suffering and need they are now seeing in many children.

Systems pushed to their limits.

Todd notes that existing systems are proving woefully inadequate to the growing need, with wait times increasing to see child psychiatrists, therapists, and other experts, and pediatric hospitals in several states reporting “sharp increases in ED visits for anxiety, depression, […]

2021-09-03T12:37:10-04:00September 3rd, 2021|mental illness, Nursing, pediatrics|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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