August 2015 Highlights

Editor-in-chief Shawn Kennedy and Clinical Editor Betsy Todd present the highlights of the August issue of the American Journal of Nursing. This month’s cover shows a community nurse practicing health education with residents of a small fishing village in rural Uganda.. Our first CE, an original research piece, “‘I Am a Nurse’: Oral Histories of African Nurses,” features oral histories from African nurse leaders who describe what nursing practice and education meant to them during and after periods of colonization in Africa. Our second CE, “Nurses’ Role in Preventing Prescription Opioid Diversion,” highlights the nonmedical use of opioids and how nurses play a critical role in stopping this epidemic of opioid abuse. The clinical feature, “The Evolution of Physical Activity Promotion,” describes how nurses can promote physical activity in their patients, an important health issue that many Americans fall short of. In “Safety Monitor: Misplacements of Enteral Feeding Tubes Increase After Hospitals Switch Brands,” the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority reviews cases of misplaced tubes and offers guidance for how nurses can prevent such errors in their own practice. Finally, “Nursing Resources: Vaccine Safety Resources for Nurses,” describes how nurses can teach patients about the importance and safety of vaccines in a time when the public still has many concerns about vaccines. In addition, there’s News, Reflections, Drug Watch, Art of Nursing, and more.