A New Year, A New Look

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As 2006 has arrived, we at the Journal of Professional Nursing (JPN) are very pleased to enthusiastically unveil our “new look.” I presented a brief description of our plans for this new look in the November–December 2005 editorial. With this issue, the new look has arrived. The most obvious change is the cover of the journal—the physical change. We also are making a concerted effort to focus our publications on three major areas: education (local, national, and global), policy issues, and leadership issues. All these major areas will be addressed within the context of baccalaureate and higher education in nursing, reflecting the mission and purpose of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). We also want the AACN to be more visible in JPN; therefore, we will have regular messages from the president of the AACN as well as updates and features from the association.

We are building on the strengths developed over many years, commencing long before I became editor. As we continue to evolve, we have solidified how we view our focus. Such reflection is the genesis of our decision to concentrate on the three areas noted previously. In many ways, this is not an enormous change but merely a clarification of our purpose. Along with these changes, we also are in the midst of our transition to our electronic system for submitting and reviewing manuscripts. We continue to embrace the challenge of mastering this new system. We are confident that this system will lead to more efficiency in producing the journal.

Please join me in welcoming two new associate editors to our editorial team: Dr. Shakẽ Ketefian and Dr. Nancy Donaldson. Dr. Ketefian is a professor of nursing and the director of the Office of International Affairs at the University of Michigan School of Nursing. She will be the associate editor for the education section of JPN. Dr. Donaldson is an associate clinical professor and the associate dean for practice of the Department of Physiological Nursing at the University of California at San Francisco School of Nursing. She will be the associate editor for the policy section of JPN. I look forward to working with both of these distinguished nurses!

With the arrival of a new year comes the opportunity to reflect on where we have been and where we want to go. Many of us engage in such reflection on a personal level. We make resolutions about how we will do better this year, whether better refers to better health habits, better appreciation for what we have, or better communication with family and friends. Doing better, however, does not mean that we have to radically change everything that we have been doing. Rather, it means that we build on what we have been doing, making incremental changes where necessary and strengthening what has worked well. At JPN, we are constantly striving to do this, by recognizing and building on what has begun while constructively changing and modifying some approaches to do even better.

Many of us use the opportunity of a new year to take stock of our lives. What went well? What can be improved? A new year represents the passage of time, emphasizing the need to mark this passage while also living in and appreciating the moment. As each year ends and a new one begins, we are reminded of how quickly time passes and how we must truly “seize the moment” in order to live our lives to the fullest.

At JPN, we are also aware of the passage of time and the constant changes that are an expected part of daily life. This past year has witnessed many new initiatives in nursing as we continue to be a vital and vocal force within health care. The new year is an opportunity to reflect on these initiatives and to purposefully continue to strengthen and improve them. It is imperative that we remain major players in our health care system, always with a critical eye and encouraging discussion and debate, while ultimately moving forward with constructive change. Our revamping of the journal represents our effort to do so.

Each of you as authors, potential authors, reviewers, and/or readers of the journal are key in making JPN successful and in strengthening the voice of nursing. Your experiences, ideas, and viewpoints are critical components in making constructive changes and in continuing to develop new initiatives. In my role as editor, I have become more and more convinced that a journal is not a static collection of bound papers but a dynamic compilation of ideas and perspectives that represent a strong and diverse group—in this case, the profession of nursing. It is my hope that our new look will build on our previous work and will persist in encouraging your contributions and your voices.

A new year is an opportunity for me to take a moment to thank the AACN Board of Directors, the official organization representing the journal, and Elsevier Science, the publisher of the journal, for their strong support. I sincerely look forward to working together in continuing to encourage the voice of nursing within the print media. We are part of a profession of which we have every right to be proud and of which we each have a responsibility to discuss and debate issues while ultimately moving forward to improve the health of the public. I wish each of you a very healthy and happy new year.