Multitasking: Gift or Nursing’s Curse?A study that examined the cognitive mechanisms involved in task switching, particularly how executive control processes manage multiple tasks (think of the time you checked a text message while programming an I.V. pump), suggests that multitasking reduces efficiency because the brain must disengage from one task before fully engaging in another. If multitasking is both inefficient and unsafe for patient care, why is it regarded as a key indicator of clinical performance success?
Meeting the MomentA much-anticipated revision of the Code of Ethics for Nurses (Code) published in January explicitly connects the health and safety of nurses and their patients, underscoring that although a nurse’s primary commitment remains to patients, they aren’t expected to compromise their well-being to meet the demands of their practice.
Meeting the MomentA much-anticipated revision of the Code of Ethics for Nurses (Code) published in January explicitly connects the health and safety of nurses and their…
Multitasking: Gift or Nursing’s Curse?A study that examined the cognitive mechanisms involved in task switching, particularly how executive control processes manage multiple tasks (think of the time you…
What’s Lost: Trump Whacks Tiny Agency That Works To Make the Nation’s Health Care SaferSue Sheridan’s baby boy, Cal, suffered brain damage from undetected jaundice in 1995. Helen Haskell’s 15-year-old son, Lewis, died after surgery in 2000 because weekend hospital staffers didn’t realize he…
I remember: Reflections of a hospice nurseAs I drive down the road I pass familiar houses. The homes flood me with memories. I remember the faces. I remember the look in your eyes. The smile when I came through the door. The pleading look when the pain was bad, asking me to help.
Syphilis eradication is still a long way off: Doxy-PEP can helpIn the late 1990s, public health departments around the globe celebrated the prospect of eradicating syphilis. However, by the early 2000s, this sexually transmitted infection (STI) changed course and climbed…
COVID-19 patients fared worse on ECMO than non-COVID-19 patients: StudyPneumonia patients with COVID-19 who required extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) fared worse than those without COVID-19, according to a study that looked at six years of patient data. After the…
Multitasking: Gift or Nursing’s Curse?A study that examined the cognitive mechanisms involved in task switching, particularly how executive control processes manage multiple tasks (think of the…
What’s Lost: Trump Whacks Tiny Agency That Works To Make the Nation’s Health Care SaferSue Sheridan’s baby boy, Cal, suffered brain damage from undetected jaundice in 1995. Helen Haskell’s 15-year-old son, Lewis, died after surgery in…
I remember: Reflections of a hospice nurseAs I drive down the road I pass familiar houses. The homes flood me with memories. I remember the faces. I remember…
Cancer treatment delays and survival outcomesDelays in seeking treatment frequently lead to poor health outcomes. Especially with regard to symptoms associated with cancer, early detection and treatment can improve…
Women and HIV pre-exposure prophylaxisWhy are new HIV cases still occurring when we have preventive treatment? One reason could be a lack of knowledge and experience among healthcare…
Coaching and evaluating new graduate nursesOngoing research shows a decline in new graduate nurses’ clinical judgment. Effective mentorship plays a crucial role in ensuring patient safety while new nurses…
Navigating Long COVIDLong COVID, a stigmatized and somewhat controversial condition, has begun to gain the public’s attention as some who previously had acute COVID-19 began reporting…
Living with atopic dermatitisA healthy 4-month-old baby boy of Eurasian descent is exclusively breastfed. This morning, his mother changes him and finds crusty, red oozing blisters covering…
Medication safetyIn 2023, the CDC reported that the most common types of adverse drug events are associated with allergic reactions, side effects, over-medication, medication errors,…
Cancer treatment delays and survival outcomesDelays in seeking treatment frequently lead to poor health outcomes. Especially with regard to symptoms associated with cancer, early detection and treatment…
Women and HIV pre-exposure prophylaxisWhy are new HIV cases still occurring when we have preventive treatment? One reason could be a lack of knowledge and experience…
Coaching and evaluating new graduate nursesOngoing research shows a decline in new graduate nurses’ clinical judgment. Effective mentorship plays a crucial role in ensuring patient safety while…
Navigating Long COVIDLong COVID, a stigmatized and somewhat controversial condition, has begun to gain the public’s attention as some who previously had acute COVID-19…
Updated Code of Ethics for Nurses releasedTo apply the new Code, actively incorporate the core principles of patient-centered care, advocacy, professional responsibility, ethical decision-making, and self-care into your…
Fall TIPS: Reducing falls in a med-surg telemetry unitThe Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality states that fall prevention should include three steps: assess fall risk, develop a personalized prevention…
Acute kidney injury: A quick diagnosis aids recoveryA 35-year-old man arrives at the ED with severe weakness, diarrhea, nausea, hypotension, and tachycardia, which began after he finished a 100-mile…
Cannabis and healthcare: Complicated policies and lawsA physician authorizes medical cannabis for an 18-year-old student who lives in a college dorm in a state where cannabis is legal…
Acute kidney injury: A quick diagnosis aids recoveryA 35-year-old man arrives at the ED with severe weakness, diarrhea, nausea, hypotension, and tachycardia, which began after he finished a 100-mile race the…
Aspiration: Blocking the airwayYou’re caring for a 75-year-old man admitted to your unit with a diagnosis of ischemic stroke, left-sided weakness, and dysphagia. He receives continuous feedings…
Acute dystonic reactionAcute dystonic reactions, movement disturbances, fall under the umbrella of extrapyramidal side effects. They’re associated with medications (including antipsychotics and antiemetics) that mediate dopamine.
Cystic fibrosisA 48-year-old woman with a history of cystic fibrosis, is admitted to the surgical unit with a small bowel obstruction. At home, the patient…
EclampsiaA 28-year-old woman who’s 8 months pregnant arrives at the obstetrics ED with right-side upper abdominal pain, a progressively worsening headache for the past…
SyncopeAn 88-year-old man experiences syncope after sustaining a patellar fracture related to a fall. He’s admitted to the telemetry unit with fall and injury…
Acute kidney injury: A quick diagnosis aids recoveryA 35-year-old man arrives at the ED with severe weakness, diarrhea, nausea, hypotension, and tachycardia, which began after he finished a 100-mile…
Aspiration: Blocking the airwayYou’re caring for a 75-year-old man admitted to your unit with a diagnosis of ischemic stroke, left-sided weakness, and dysphagia. He receives…
Acute dystonic reactionAcute dystonic reactions, movement disturbances, fall under the umbrella of extrapyramidal side effects. They’re associated with medications (including antipsychotics and antiemetics) that…
Cystic fibrosisA 48-year-old woman with a history of cystic fibrosis, is admitted to the surgical unit with a small bowel obstruction. At home,…
PTSD: Increase screening and treatmentMany nurse practitioners (NPs) provide care in medically underserved areas, some in one of the more than 1,400 free clinics throughout the United States. More patients who access care at free clinics meet the diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than those who receive care at fee-for-service clinics.This article is available to American Nurses Association members and ANJ subscribers only. Already a member? Log in here
Support planetary healthActions to promote and protect the environment Spring marks a time of renewal and reawakening with cleaning, planting, and other fresh starts, bringing new…
EBP, QI, and ISSome use the terms evidence-based practice (EBP), quality improvement (QI), and implementation science (IS) interchangeably. However important differences exist. Clinicians must understand those differences…
Catalysts of change2025 Innovation Award winners close disparity gaps. Nurses’ insights and experience in developing solutions that matter illustrate The Power of Nurses™ in dynamic and…
Empathy in ostomy careEmpathy relies on understanding an experience from another’s perspective. A simulated learning activity such as wearing an ostomy bag for a day, in combination…
Focus on nurses’ well-beingNurses hold demanding and frequently stressful positions and hectic lives. Managing the stresses and strains of work and finding a positive work–life…
Nurses’ role in skin cancer preventionSkin cancer has reached epidemic proportions—one in five Americans will develop some form by age 70. Nurses have an opportunity to make…
How to balance a bed shortageBed shortages remain a concern in hospitals across the country. For example, since the COVID-19 pandemic, most of Washington’s larger hospitals and…
Everyday ethics: Privacy and trustAs a perioperative nurse, I understand I should ensure the privacy and confidentiality of my patients and their information while providing care throughout pre-,…
Everyday ethics: Prioritizing patientsIt’s my understanding that a nurse’s primary commitment is to our patients. Recently, while working as a travel nurse, I’ve been concerned about some…
Ethics in everyday careThe pandemic, from its earliest days in March 2020, exposed not only a health and healthcare crisis but also deep inequities in our society.…
Improving obstetric care for Black patientsAs a labor and delivery nurse, I’ve witnessed some of my Black obstetric patients suffer negative outcomes during their birthing experiences from what I…
A call to better serve unsheltered patientsI’ve become increasingly concerned by the growing number of patients experiencing homelessness who’ve been coming to our clinic. How can I get involved to…
Asking for a change of assignmentI’ve been a charge nurse for several years and find passion and purpose in my responsibility directing the care team and being a nursing…
Everyday ethics: Privacy and trustAs a perioperative nurse, I understand I should ensure the privacy and confidentiality of my patients and their information while providing care…
Everyday ethics: Prioritizing patientsIt’s my understanding that a nurse’s primary commitment is to our patients. Recently, while working as a travel nurse, I’ve been concerned…
Ethics in everyday careThe pandemic, from its earliest days in March 2020, exposed not only a health and healthcare crisis but also deep inequities in…
Improving obstetric care for Black patientsAs a labor and delivery nurse, I’ve witnessed some of my Black obstetric patients suffer negative outcomes during their birthing experiences from…
Has the Public Option Been Opted Out?This weekend radically changed the great health reform debate of 2009. With President Obama abandoning the “public plan” option, many on the…
Colorectal cancers on the rise…in young adultsResearch coming out of the United States and Canada is showing an increase in colorectal cancers among men and women under 50…
What’s Lost: Trump Whacks Tiny Agency That Works To Make the Nation’s Health Care SaferSue Sheridan’s baby boy, Cal, suffered brain damage from undetected jaundice in 1995. Helen Haskell’s 15-year-old son, Lewis, died after surgery in…
COVID-19 patients fared worse on ECMO than non-COVID-19 patients: StudyPneumonia patients with COVID-19 who required extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) fared worse than those without COVID-19, according to a study that looked…
Multitasking: Gift or Nursing’s Curse?A study that examined the cognitive mechanisms involved in task switching, particularly how executive control processes manage multiple tasks (think of the time you…
Syphilis eradication is still a long way off: Doxy-PEP can helpIn the late 1990s, public health departments around the globe celebrated the prospect of eradicating syphilis. However, by the early 2000s, this sexually transmitted…
The case of the vanishing stethoscopeA 2001 study assessed the cardiac auscultation skills of 314 internal medicine residents from Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The results…
The symbiotic relationship between nursing and designLike nurses—who can use their degrees in a range of areas from clinical bedside care to research, education, entrepreneurship, history and more—professional designers also…
Nurses as PilgrimsThe travel writer Rick Steves describes three types of travelers: tourists, traveler, and pilgrims. I’d like to propose that those same terms can be…
Call to action: Support the reauthorization of the Lorna Breen ActIf you’ve worked as a nurse for any length of time, you already know the emotional toll this profession takes. But what’s harder to…
Multitasking: Gift or Nursing’s Curse?A study that examined the cognitive mechanisms involved in task switching, particularly how executive control processes manage multiple tasks (think of the…
Syphilis eradication is still a long way off: Doxy-PEP can helpIn the late 1990s, public health departments around the globe celebrated the prospect of eradicating syphilis. However, by the early 2000s, this…
The case of the vanishing stethoscopeA 2001 study assessed the cardiac auscultation skills of 314 internal medicine residents from Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.…
The symbiotic relationship between nursing and designLike nurses—who can use their degrees in a range of areas from clinical bedside care to research, education, entrepreneurship, history and more—professional…
The importance of being unreasonableNurses, on the whole, are a darn nice group of people. After all, nurses have a reputation for being caring, self-sacrificing, nurturing,…
Examining nurse comfort eatingMany years ago I found myself standing in the frozen food section flirting with the prospect of buying a mouth-watering strawberry cheesecake.…
Care, not chaosA new document created by ANA and other groups delineates emergency care principles for psychiatric patients.
CDC publishes updates to immunization schedules for children and adultsVaccines are known as one of the greatest achievements in public health over the last century. And each year, it seems more…
‘PAWSitive’ interventions ease ‘rrrf’ times in pediatricsDaniel, a 5-year-old child with asthma, is anxious and doesn’t want to keep his oxygen mask on during his much-needed nebulizer treatment.…
Atypical presentation of myocardial infarctionCardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in women, but it’s often under-recognized because of atypical symptoms. Women may experience vague…
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement: New hope for patients with aortic stenosisThis new aortic stenosis treatment avoids the sternotomy, aortotomy, and cardiopulmonary bypass of traditional valve replacement
