On this month's cover, Robin McPeek, RN, visits her 86-year-old patient, Sydney, at his home in Pikeville, Kentucky. At the time this photo was taken, McPeek was the clinical director of a home health care agency serving Pike County, a rural coal mining community.
McPeek is one of 75 nurses whose portraits and stories are featured in The American Nurse (Welcome Books, 2012), by photographer Carolyn Jones (see https://americannurseproject.com). In an interview for the book, McPeek noted that black lung disease was common among her patients. She also described "shocking home situations" she encountered during her two decades working for the agency-among them, refrigerators crashing through floorboards, a young child caring for multiple younger siblings, and homes still heated by coal fireplaces.
In recognition of 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and Midwife, all AJN covers this year will honor the important and varied work of these two professions. Look for more photos in upcoming issues, and visit http://www.ajnonline.com to submit your own photos of nurses and midwives on the job for possible inclusion in a future issue or online photo gallery.-Diane Szulecki, editor