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Purpose: Continued cigarette smoking after a major cardiac event predicts worse health outcomes and leads to reduced participation in cardiac rehabilitation (CR). Understanding which characteristics of current smokers are associated with CR attendance and smoking cessation will help improve care for these high-risk patients. We examined whether smoking among social connections was associated with CR participation and continued smoking in cardiac patients.

Methods: Participants included 149 patients hospitalized with an acute cardiac event who self-reported smoking prior to the hospitalization and were eligible for outpatient CR. Participants completed a survey on their smoking habits prior to hospitalization and 3 mo later. Participants were dichotomized into two groups by the proportion of friends or family currently smoking ("None-Few" vs "Some-Most"). Sociodemographic, health, secondhand smoke exposure, and smoking measures were compared using t tests and χ2 tests (P < .05). ORs were calculated to compare self-reported rates of CR attendance and smoking cessation at 3-mo follow-up.

Results: Compared with the "None-Few" group, participants in the "Some-Most" group experienced more secondhand smoke exposure (P < .01) and were less likely to attend CR at follow-up (OR = 0.40; 95% CI, 0.17-0.93). Participants in the "Some-Most" group tended to be less likely to quit smoking, but this difference was not statistically significant.

Conclusion: Social environments with more smokers predicted worse outpatient CR attendance. Clinicians should consider smoking within the social network of the patient as an important potential barrier to pro-health behavior change.

Aims: Among nursing professionals, our aims were to examine (a) self-reported traumatic experiences, (b) differences in post-traumatic growth (i.e. positive psychological growth after experiencing a traumatic event) by nursing professional level and (c) demographic, work-related, behavioural and traumatic experience covariates of post-traumatic growth.

Background: Trauma experience among nursing professionals is higher than observed in the general population. Due to the nature of their work environment, workplace trauma rates are particularly alarming. Understanding post-traumatic growth among nursing professionals may guide interventions to enhance well-being.

Method: A secondary analysis of cross-sectional survey data from nursing professionals (N = 299). Demographic, work-related, behavioural, trauma experience categories and post-traumatic growth variables were examined.

Results: Advanced practice nurses and clinical nurses reported higher rates of workplace trauma, as compared to nursing assistants. Higher post-traumatic growth scores were associated with having a postgraduate degree, serving the paediatric population and lower frequency of alcohol use. Lower post-traumatic growth scores were associated with being married/widowed, being an advanced practice provider or clinical nurse, working in the intensive care unit and reporting workplace, family/personal stress and undisclosed trauma.

Conclusions: Nursing professionals have several demographic, work-related, behavioural and traumatic experience-related variables associated with and that explain variances in post-traumatic growth.

Implication for nursing management: Targeted screening and individualized treatment based on nursing professional level should be considered to support trauma recovery and post-traumatic growth.

National lung cancer screening with low dose computed tomography (LDCT) uptake is suboptimal. One factor contributing to slow uptake is lack of awareness. Trained Community Health Workers (CHWs) may be effective in increasing lung cancer screening awareness among disparate populations, however little is known about the processes necessary to scale an intervention for implementation by CHWs in a new area. We examined implementation processes with the RE-AIM framework and pilot tested a CHW-delivered lung cancer education intervention based on the Health Belief Model. We measured pre-post participant knowledge, attitudes and beliefs regarding cancer screening, lung cancer stigma, and intent to obtain LDCT screening. We used community-engaged strategies to collaborate with a local health system, to identify CHWs. CHWs were trained to recruit participants and deliver the one-session lung cancer education intervention. Seven CHWs and eight community sites participated. Participants (n = 77) were female (53%) primarily low income (62.9%); tobacco use was high (36.9%). Post intervention changes in lung cancer screening knowledge (p =  < .0001), attitudes regarding lung cancer screening benefit (p = .034) and lung cancer stigma. (p = .024) We learned important lessons that will be useful in subsequent scaling. Collaborating with a local health system is a promising method to disseminate a lung cancer screening education intervention.

At the time of this writing, the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has infected over 13 million individuals worldwide, with over 3.4 million infected in the United States (US). The highly infectious virus has claimed over 137,000 US lives and this number increases daily. While COVID-19 does not discriminate, data illuminate an eerily familiar pattern of disproportionate infection and mortality among communities of color. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2020), national data on confirmed coronavirus cases by race and ethnicity as of April 17, 2020 indicated that despite Blacks accounting for 13% of the US population, they accounted for 34% of COVID-19 confirmed cases. Data quickly emerged revealing alarming disparities among COVID-19 mortality with Blacks dying at a rate of 2–3 times their proportion of the population. This disparate mortality is seen among 32 states, including those in the region served by the Southern Nursing Research Society (Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center, 2020). For example, Blacks represent 27% of the population of Alabama and 46% of COVID-19 deaths, Georgia 31% and 49%, and Kentucky; 8% and 17%(the COVID Project at the Atlantic, n.d.).

We write this editorial at a time of great civil unrest in the United States, following the public murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who was killed by Minneapolis police officers, and Breonna Taylor, an innocent Kentucky woman killed by police serving a no-knock warrant. These 2 deaths were among the many unjust atrocities committed against Blacks that have been repeated far too many times in our history. Amid a pandemic, when stresses have been heightened and people have felt little control over their own lives, Floyd’s death triggered outrage and, more importantly, the recognition of the need for action to dismantle structural racism. LaToya Nolan, a Black medical student, described a situation from her university class held on the Monday following George Floyd’s death: the professor asked the students if they had a “nice weekend.”1  As the only Black student in the class, she did not feel safe to freely speak up about the trauma and grief that she was experiencing related to the atrocities being inflicted on Black people. Nolan’s story is just 1 example of how White privilege is a barrier to supporting Black people. Another issue of injustice is the too familiar pattern of White people weaponizing authorities against Black people, such as Amy Cooper, a privileged White woman, who called the police and falsely accused a Black man who was birdwatching in a New York City park— an incident that was unjustified and racist. Some of you may be growing tired of hearing about Black Lives Matter.2  What about those who have grown tired of living it?

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood neurodevelopmental diseases and nearly two thirds of children with ADHD have symptoms that persist into adulthood. Approximately 750,000 children with special health care needs transition from pediatric to adult health care annually in the United States. For youth with ADHD, organized, coordinated, and systematic care transition from pediatric to adult health care providers is essential to prevent negative consequences related to unmanaged ADHD symptoms and to optimize health and promote maximum functioning. The Got Transition model’s 6 core elements provide a guide to support successful transition for adolescents with ADHD., 

Smoking is among the greatest international public health concerns, causing excessive levels of preventable premature death, disability, and economic costs...