Celebrating excellence

When Dr. Margretta Madden Styles conducted the first extensive studies of nurse credentialing—research that ultimately led to a comprehensive set of certification standards—she couldn’t…

Psychological PPE

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) developed “Psychological PPE: Promote health care workforce mental health and well-being” based on research and evidence-based recommendations aimed…

Communicating with patients about firearm safety

Nurses frequently need to ask personal and sensitive questions, even in the absence of an established therapeutic relationship. Through typical healthcare interactions, disclosures about violence, risk, and firearm ownership may arise. However, nurses receive little or no education, training, or…

The Five Rs

Studies have demonstrated significant associations between higher psychological safety and objective patient safety outcomes, reinforcing the idea that the same conditions that enable learners to grow also contribute to safer care. At the same time, measuring patient safety solely as…

Virtual reality simulation in the nursing skills lab

Nursing programs should prepare students for real-life clinical experiences, but several factors influence the amount of orientation time a novice nurse receives, including cost, time constraints, familiarity with electronic health records, and the ability to provide patient-centered care and perform…

Bereaved parents and perceptions of hope

Bereaved parental perspectives on hope during their child’s cancer journey can prove complex and subjective. Hope, which can alleviate distress, is difficult to define. In the face of good outcomes or a favorable prognosis, families direct hope toward a cure…

Nurse residency programs

Make a strategic investment. American Nurse Journal’s CNE topic this month considers standardization of nurse residency programs (NRPs). I’ve been a proponent…

Workforce wisdom

Summit attendees collaborate to strengthen nursing and provide optimal care. Audience engagement was a feature of all sessions. Participants asked insightful questions…

Spinal cord compression and cauda equina syndrome

Mr. Robert Trent*, a 22-year-old man, arrives at the ED with acute, uncontrolled severe back pain, which he rates as 10 (the worst possible). The pain, which began 5 hours earlier, was unrelieved with ibuprofen. Robin, the nurse, takes his…

Organophosphate poisoning

A 32-year-old man with no significant past medical history experiences acute shortness of breath, watery eyes, and twitching while working in a soybean field. The triage nurse recognizes that the symptoms might indicate organophosphate poisoning and activates the rapid response…

COPD exacerbation

A 75-year-old man with a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), hypertension, and a 20-pack-year smoking history, is transferred from the ED to…

Spontaneous pneumothorax

A 19-year-old man with no significant medical history develops sudden, sharp, left-sided chest pain while playing basketball. After 8 hours, his pain doesn’t improve…

Crohn’s disease and GI perforation

JUSTIN REYNOLDS*, a 22-year-old man, arrives at the medical–surgical unit for a diagnostic workup after reporting abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and weight loss for…

Serotonin syndrome

A 54-year-old woman arrives at the ED with flu-like symptoms, including fatigue, muscle aches, and a mild fever. Her medical history includes depression, which…

Organophosphate poisoning

A 32-year-old man with no significant past medical history experiences acute shortness of breath, watery eyes, and twitching while working in a…

COPD exacerbation

A 75-year-old man with a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), hypertension, and a 20-pack-year smoking history, is transferred from the…

Spontaneous pneumothorax

A 19-year-old man with no significant medical history develops sudden, sharp, left-sided chest pain while playing basketball. After 8 hours, his pain…

Education can be the key to professional success. Whether you’re a new or experienced nurse, returning to school to get your BSN or another advanced degree can make the difference between thriving and stagnating in your career. Tap into the articles presented in this year’s education guide for tips and thoughtful advice on nursing education. The American Nurse Education and Career Guide, provides you with facts, figures, other nurses’ experiences, and tons of other resources to help you in your journey.

Elevating the transition-to-practice experience

In 2022, The merger of two regional health systems gave rise to a healthcare enterprise covering six states and employing nearly 3,000 prospective newly licensed nurses (NLNs) who graduated from an accredited program and had less than 6 months of…

Farmworker healthcare challenges

In addition to the health problems that everyone encounters, farmworkers also may experience pesticide exposure, long hours with few breaks, heat exposure and related illnesses, lack of water and sanitary bathroom facilities, injury, prolonged exposure to noisy equipment, and overexposure…

Trauma and its impact on health

Trauma changes us. This powerful emotional experience of terror or stress affects biology and immune function, reminding us of the connection between the mind…

Dress for success: Wound dressing basics

Some nurses find wound dressing selection intimidating and frustrating. Businesswire estimates that more than 5,000 wound care products exist in the United States, in…

Farmworker healthcare challenges

In addition to the health problems that everyone encounters, farmworkers also may experience pesticide exposure, long hours with few breaks, heat exposure…

Trauma and its impact on health

Trauma changes us. This powerful emotional experience of terror or stress affects biology and immune function, reminding us of the connection between…

The team therapist model

Nurses experience significantly more shared suffering and loss than those in other caring disciplines. If not mitigated, this can lead to disproportionate levels of…

A case study: CHF and depression

According to Jha and colleagues, a lack of consistent depression screening in patients with congestive heart failure can lead to poor prognosis and outcomes.…

Fostering a culture of innovation and quality

Study identifies actions to guide healthcare organizations. THE AMERICAN NURSES ENTERPRISE (ANE) has prioritized innovation and quality practices as necessary components of workplace culture.…

Stigma and liver transplantation

Bias associated with liver transplants reflects underlying practices within healthcare that shape how it emerges and persists. Since 2014, as noted by Pimienta and…

Mental health trailblazers

The mental health trailblazers podcast features the groundbreaking journeys of psychiatric mental health nurses in their quest to meet the urgent needs…

Teens and cyber victimization

Cyber victimization (CV) among teens is characterized by targeted aggression in an electronic context. This phenomenon, including cyberbullying, cyber fraud, and cyberstalking,…

Alleviating nurse fatigue

Today's nursing workforce spans multiple generations, each with distinct needs, strengths, and challenges. Addressing generational differences as healthcare evolves remains essential for…
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Respectful care for gender-diverse patients

During a change-of-shift handoff, I informed the oncoming nurse that a transgender patient uses she/her pronouns. The nurse responded, “I don’t subscribe to this trend of declaring pronouns. I’ll call the patient what I feel is right.” Does the Code…

Gift giving and receiving in nursing practice

I'm a new nurse on a pediatric oncology unit. Many of my colleagues bring in gifts for their patients. Is this something that I should be doing? On the flip side, am I allowed to receive gifts from families? This…

Balancing life and death transitions

I’m an ICU Nurse at a hospital that frequently procures organs from patients who’ve given consent to donate on their driver’s licenses. In some…

AI is making nurses second-guess their expertise —That’s dangerous

Silicon Valley has discovered healthcare—again. This time, the promise is artificial intelligence (AI) that can predict when patients will deteriorate, before stressed-out nurses notice the warning signs. Venture capital is pouring billions into health tech startups, major tech companies are…

The Gifts We Do Not See

The holidays may be behind us, but this blog by Fidelindo Lim, DNP, CCRN, FAAN, offers some critical insights into the enduring humanism of…

Calming a thyroid storm

Saving a patient’s life may rest on recognizing which findings are red herrings and which hold the key to the crisis.

New treatment for peanut allergy in children

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved Aimmune Therapeutics’ Palforzia [Peanut (Arachis hypogaea) Allergen Powder-dnfp] for children suffering from peanut…

HealthCom Media, the publishers of American Nurse Journal, the American Nurses Association and Al Roker Productions collaborated to bring a few shining examples of the exemplary work being done by nurses in today’s very challenging healthcare environment to the American public.