July 6, 2016 | NLN Member Update: Call for Manuscripts

Just about six months ago I wrote to you about the exciting changes around the corner for one of our most treasured member benefits, Nursing Education Perspectives. With the January-February issue, longtime NLN publications partner Wolters Kluwer began to publish our highly regarded, peer-reviewed research journal. Now, with three valued editions in print and the new NEP website (including the July-August issue) getting rave reviews, we can say with complete confidence that the transition is a great success.

While you’ll be hearing about this in other NLN communications, I couldn’t wait to tell you about a special issue of the journal scheduled for NLN Summit 2017. Nursing Education Perspectives is currently inviting manuscripts, due January 15, 2017, for an issue focused on preparing nurses of the future, consistent with the critical recommendations made in the Institute of Medicine’s The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health.

The September-October 2017 journal will have co-guest editors from the Fairfield University Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies: Dr. Meredith Wallace Kazer, dean and professor, and Dr. Audrey M. Beauvais, associate dean for undergraduate programs. Consistent with NEP practice for feature articles, they will give preference to data-based manuscripts involving multiple institutions and clinical agencies. They are also looking for manuscripts from State Action Coalitions of The Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action.

You’ve often heard me speak about this campaign but allow me to recap here. Shortly after The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health was published in 2011, this innovative initiative was created by AARP and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to work with organizations throughout the nation to create healthier communities through nursing. Using partnerships, grants, and programs, the campaign boosts efforts to create a stronger, more diverse, well-educated nursing workforce ready to lead the way so that everyone in America has access to high quality care. How has the campaign been successful in meeting its goals? What unique strategies are being used that should be shared with others? We’re looking forward to seeing your submissions.

In her President’s Message in the July-August issue of NEP, “Commencement as a Faculty Milestone,” NLN president Dr. Anne Bavier urges us to use the calm of the summer for voracious reading, voluntary service, and above all, creativity. I would add that it is a good time to establish goals for publication, specifically for submitting manuscripts to NEP. Editor Dr. Joyce Fitzpatrick is always seeking submissions on nursing education research and issues important to nursing education. If you have conducted a pilot study, your manuscript may be more suited for the Research Briefs, edited by Dr. Barbara Patterson. And if you hope to share an innovative teaching strategy, your manuscript may belong in the Innovation Center, edited by Dr. Linda Caputi. If you are not sure where your proposed manuscript belongs in NEP, the editors will consider your query letter. Write to managing editor Leslie Block and include your proposed abstract. And please be sure to check the Instructions for Authors.

There is one more piece of news from the journal, the centerpiece of the NLN | Chamberlain College of Nursing Center for the Advancement of the Science of Nursing Education. Nursing Education Perspectives has been accepted by Thomson Reuters to be included in the Emerging Citation Resources Index; researchers using Thomson Reuters products have another way to discover NEP content. As an NLN member, I know you agree that the promotion of evidence-based nursing education through research, scholarship, and publication is critical to excellence in nursing education and the advancement of our mission, to build a strong and diverse nursing workforce to advance the health of our nation and the global community. Colleagues, I encourage you to review the NLN Research Priorities in Nursing Education and keep up-to-date with the research published in NEP. We are very proud and humbled to be able to offer our journal as a vital benefit of membership.

I look forward to seeing you at NLN Education Summit 2016, “Beyond Boundaries.” Be sure to register soon as early bird pricing for members ends July 31. I hope you are enjoying your summer and had a rousing Independence Day.

For a final word. Sometimes, colleagues, it is hard to maintain our moral compass as world events unfold around us. The deeply disturbing series of horrific bombings around the world challenges our shared humanity. At a time like this it can be instructive to look at the life of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, who died on Saturday. In a statement President Obama said that the Nobel prizewinner “raised his voice, not just against anti-Semitism, but against hatred, bigotry and intolerance in all its forms.” He implored each of us, “as nations and as human beings, to do the same, to see ourselves in each other and to make real that pledge of never again.” This is an important lesson for all of us as issues of immigration arise, even in our own country, along with fear of those who are different. We, as nurses, will continue to provide care for all based on our integrity, understanding, and appreciation of the complexity of diversity that demands an inclusive culture, all while co-creating and implementing transformative strategies with daring ingenuity.

The NLN, the oldest nursing organization in the country, will never cease in our efforts to teach our colleagues how to heal the world.

Next Issue of the NLN Member Update: Wednesday, July 20, 2016. View previous issues of NLN Member Update »