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International Emergency Nursing
International Emergency Nursing (2008) 16, 1–2
www.elsevierhealth.com/journals/aaen
EDITORIAL
International Emergency Nursing This issue signals a whole new era for Accident and Emergency Nursing, a journal that was established by Mr. Bob Wright 14 years ago. As current editor, I am proud and excited to announce the launch of the journal under its new title – International Emergency Nursing. Bob and his editorial team identified a need for a journal within the specialty that discussed issues, investigated the diversity of our work, and disseminated new practice. This was a global aim, and the journal has always received and published papers from across the world. The word ‘international’ creates all sorts of images, especially those of travel, and of different cultures communicating, or working together. Nursing, in itself, is a truly international profession, with nurses travelling and working throughout the world, across the nursing spectrum. We face the same work, and many of the same issues wherever we practice. In emergency care, this is evidenced in the papers we receive, and those published across the specialist literature. Issues of overcrowding, long waits for inpatient beds, primary care patients, violence, staffing and skill mix, etc. Clinically, patients present needing emergency or urgent care, who are anxious, or in pain, and who need reassurance, or information. The journal aims to bring this community and communal understanding closer, and to provide the evidence for how we deliver care and build effective services. The use of global technology brings this community ever closer, with indications that our journal is being used in areas we have previously struggled to access, including Iran, India, and Korea. The use of international in our title simply reflects what we have built and want to continue to foster into the future.
To underpin this we have created a new feature examining emergency nursing in different countries across the world, starting with some of our main contributors, from Australia and New Zealand, from South Africa, and from Hong Kong. It is hoped this will give our readers a true sense of emergency nursing across the globe. ‘Accident and Emergency’ has been used widely across the British, and some commonwealth, countries, as the title of our specialty, even though, 50 years after the inception of A&E, ‘casualty’ is still widely used across the healthcare system, and in the media. More recently though there has been a gradual shift away from the use of A&E, certainly in the UK, and Australasia, to the more commonly used terms of emergency nursing, emergency department, emergency services, etc. These are already in use in other global areas, including the US, Europe, and areas of the Middle, and Far East, resulting in the creation of a common terminology, and at last the sense that we have matured as a specialty. Across the globe, there is an understanding of where the ‘Emergency Department’ is, or where an Emergency Nurse works. Whether we have truly defined our workload yet is a whole other thing! As such, it seems the right time to embed this maturity within the journal title. There is always a threat in changing the name of a journal, that it will ‘disappear’ from sight, and lose the authors and readers it has taken years to establish. Other journals may feel threatened by our ‘international’ claim though anyone who has read or been involved with the journal since 1993 will understand clearly the impact the journal has had on emergency nursing across the globe. I am a very optimistic editor (and
1755-599X/$ - see front matter c 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ienj.2007.11.001
2
Editorial
nurse) who believes that change is good, that challenging the norm is invigorating and that changing the name will actually broaden the scope and visibility of the journal internationally. We hope you enjoy it, and continue to support us into the future.
Heather McClelland RGN, MSc Editor, E-mail address: [email protected]
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
www.elsevierhealth.com/journals/aaen
EDITORIAL
International Emergency Nursing This issue signals a whole new era for Accident and Emergency Nursing, a journal that was established by Mr. Bob Wright 14 years ago. As current editor, I am proud and excited to announce the launch of the journal under its new title – International Emergency Nursing. Bob and his editorial team identified a need for a journal within the specialty that discussed issues, investigated the diversity of our work, and disseminated new practice. This was a global aim, and the journal has always received and published papers from across the world. The word ‘international’ creates all sorts of images, especially those of travel, and of different cultures communicating, or working together. Nursing, in itself, is a truly international profession, with nurses travelling and working throughout the world, across the nursing spectrum. We face the same work, and many of the same issues wherever we practice. In emergency care, this is evidenced in the papers we receive, and those published across the specialist literature. Issues of overcrowding, long waits for inpatient beds, primary care patients, violence, staffing and skill mix, etc. Clinically, patients present needing emergency or urgent care, who are anxious, or in pain, and who need reassurance, or information. The journal aims to bring this community and communal understanding closer, and to provide the evidence for how we deliver care and build effective services. The use of global technology brings this community ever closer, with indications that our journal is being used in areas we have previously struggled to access, including Iran, India, and Korea. The use of international in our title simply reflects what we have built and want to continue to foster into the future.
To underpin this we have created a new feature examining emergency nursing in different countries across the world, starting with some of our main contributors, from Australia and New Zealand, from South Africa, and from Hong Kong. It is hoped this will give our readers a true sense of emergency nursing across the globe. ‘Accident and Emergency’ has been used widely across the British, and some commonwealth, countries, as the title of our specialty, even though, 50 years after the inception of A&E, ‘casualty’ is still widely used across the healthcare system, and in the media. More recently though there has been a gradual shift away from the use of A&E, certainly in the UK, and Australasia, to the more commonly used terms of emergency nursing, emergency department, emergency services, etc. These are already in use in other global areas, including the US, Europe, and areas of the Middle, and Far East, resulting in the creation of a common terminology, and at last the sense that we have matured as a specialty. Across the globe, there is an understanding of where the ‘Emergency Department’ is, or where an Emergency Nurse works. Whether we have truly defined our workload yet is a whole other thing! As such, it seems the right time to embed this maturity within the journal title. There is always a threat in changing the name of a journal, that it will ‘disappear’ from sight, and lose the authors and readers it has taken years to establish. Other journals may feel threatened by our ‘international’ claim though anyone who has read or been involved with the journal since 1993 will understand clearly the impact the journal has had on emergency nursing across the globe. I am a very optimistic editor (and
1755-599X/$ - see front matter c 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ienj.2007.11.001
2
Editorial
nurse) who believes that change is good, that challenging the norm is invigorating and that changing the name will actually broaden the scope and visibility of the journal internationally. We hope you enjoy it, and continue to support us into the future.
Heather McClelland RGN, MSc Editor, E-mail address: [email protected]
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com