Online Journal of Issues in Nursing

Transracial/transcultural adoption is defined as a child of one race or ethnic group placed with parent(s) of a different race or ethnic group. An estimated 2 million children in the United States were identified as adopted in the 2010 census, and approximately one-fourth of these were transracial adoptions. Both a history of adoption and a strong ethnic or racial identity are specifically associated with health-related risk and protective factors for psychosocial, academic, and health behavior outcomes. A patient with a history of transracial adoption presents unique and important considerations for culturally responsive nursing care...

Social determinants of health (SDOH) refer to the social, economic, and physical conditions in which people live that may affect their health. Poverty, which affects nearly 15 million children in the United States, has far-reaching effects on children's physical and mental health. Although it is difficult to change a family's economic circumstances, nurses can play a critical role to address SDOH through screening and effective coordination of care. As nurses, our role is to minimize the effects of SDOH, including poverty, on child health and well-being through our practice, research, and professional education...

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Nurses face many dilemmas when providing healthcare to immigrants, a vulnerable population. Racist, rancorous dialogue can create a hostile care environment that may place patients at risk for substandard care. This article presents a two part case study about a Hispanic patient to illustrate both examples of inappropriate dialogue (Part I) and potential nursing actions (Part 2). The authors review myths versus facts about Hispanic immigrants and introduce activist Thomas Merton’s concept of the guilty bystander, the nursing professional code of ethics, and Professor Joseph Badaracco’s concepts of quiet leadership as practical tools and approaches that nurses can use to advocate for safe, quality, ethical care of immigrant populations...

People with disabilities use various assistance devices to improve their capacity to lead independent and fulfilling lives. Service dogs can be crucial lifesaving companions for their owners. As the use of service dogs increases, nurses are more likely to encounter them in healthcare settings. Service dogs are often confused with therapy or emotional support dogs. While some of their roles overlap, service dogs have distinct protection under the American Disabilities Act (ADA). Knowing the laws and proper procedures regarding service dogs strengthens the abilities of healthcare providers to deliver holistic, patient-centered care...

The American Nurses Association (ANA) is responsible for the contract between society and the nursing profession, including the nursing scope and standards of practice. In 2015, an ANA workgroup produced Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice, 3rd Ed during a time of social change and an increase of culturally and ethnically diverse consumers. Subsequently, a subset of workgroup members and an invited transcultural nursing expert led to the creation of the new Standard 8: Culturally Congruent Practice, describing nursing care that is in agreement with the preferred values, beliefs, worldview, and practices of the healthcare consumer...

Keeping patients safe is a core nursing duty. The dynamic nature of the healthcare environment requires that nurses practice to the full extent of their education, experience, and role to keep patients safe. Research has focused on error causation rather than error recovery, a process that occurs before patient harm ensues. In addition, little is known about the role nurses play in error recovery. A descriptive cross-sectional, correlational study using a sample of 184 nurses examined relationships between nurse characteristics, organizational factors, and recovery of medical errors among medical-surgical nurses in hospitals...

This article concludes a series that described work completed by the American Nurses Association (ANA) Barriers to RN Scope of Practice Professional Issues Panel (Panel). The Panel has summarized the roles of the registered nurse (RN) as professional, advocate, innovator, and collaborative leader. As professionals, RNs are accountable for their own educational development, growth of their own practice, and execution of their own professional role. As advocates, RNs provide direct and indirect care focused on the achievement of optimal health...

State-specific nurse practice acts, a defined registered nurse (RN) scope of practice, and nurse-led initiatives prepare nurses to lead in a meaningful and ethical way within the professional practice setting. However, barriers still exist that challenge the full RN scope of practice. One of these barriers is insufficient interprofessional collaboration among healthcare providers from multiple disciplines. We will briefly discuss the RN scope of practice and describe several evidence-based transition to practice programs and activities that are effectively helping to minimize these barriers...

As innovators, all registered nurses (RNs) act as agents of change to drive processes and policy and leverage technology to prove better, more affordable care for individuals and the community. The authors consider examples of RNs leading innovative ideas and practices to create new knowledge; develop healthcare policies and practices; improve the quality of care; and advance health information technology. This article describes a number of key innovation goals identified by the American Nurses Association Professional Issues Panel, Barriers to RN Scope of Practice, discusses relevant literature related to overcoming barriers to innovation, and identifies recommendations for leading innovative change to achieve innovation goals...

Registered Nurses (RNs) influence the health of individual patients and populations. RNs provide the most value for the healthcare system when they work collaboratively with other healthcare team members, work to their full scope of practice, and when they are engaged and accountable. In 2011, the Institute of Medicine report on the future of nursing made the call to achieve the full value of nursing care. Creation of this future state requires both a vision of the “to be” as well as removal of existing barriers...

This article explores the theme that, as professionals, all registered nurses (RNs) are accountable for their own educational development and execution of their individual professional role. To assure that RNs perform to the full scope of their practice and impact the highest possible patient outcomes, a standardized educational preparation of RNs at the BSN level is essential, either through initial education or educational progression. The authors support the need for BSN preparation with a brief review of research to identify seminal works that demonstrate the added value, both economically and in terms of patient outcomes, that results when higher percentages of BSN-prepared RNs provide care...

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No abstract text is available yet for this article.