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Reflecting Our Past—Looking Toward Our Future
Editorial JANAC Editorial Sowell/ Vol. 10, No. 1, January/February 1999
Reflecting Our Past—Looking Toward Our Future Richard Sowell, PhD, RN, FAAN
With this issue, JANAC begins its 10th year. We owe much to those who founded the journal and worked diligently over the years to sustain it. To remain relevant to the epidemic that made a nursing journal focusing on HIV/AIDS necessary, JANAC has had to undergo change over the years in its scope and organizational structure. A journal that did not adapt to change would have been left behind in the dynamic evolution of HIV/AIDS care. We have not been left behind. Knowledge related to HIV/AIDS care and treatment has advanced rapidly in the decade and a half since the first cases of a strange new syndrome (GRID) affecting gay men in large cities was identified. The “face of AIDS” has expanded, and we now recognize that all of the human race is a population at risk for HIV infection. Treatments for HIV infection as well as many opportunistic infections not imagined 10 years ago when JANAC began are now the standard of care. The human response to this epidemic has been a paradox demonstrating the depths of human compassion and caring while underscoring prejudice and intolerance. For many on the front lines of HIV/AIDS care, the only constant of the epidemic has been a sense of escalated change. Yet, movement toward better treatment and care has not been fast enough. As might be expected in developing a response to a disease such as HIV infection, prevention and treatment initiatives have been characterized by disappointments intermingled with successes. Despite numerous social, economic, and political obstacles, HIV/AIDS care has steadily moved forward. Although a cure may not be clearly in sight, better treatments for HIV and related infections that increase quality and length of life are a reality. AIDS research and the continued dedication of
the many health professionals working in HIV/AIDS care offer promise for a brighter future. Likewise, I believe that JANAC has undergone the changes associated with growth and has moved steadily forward over the past several years. Do not get me wrong! I would be the first to acknowledge that many of the changes we have experienced as an editorial board and staff have neither been smooth nor comfortable. There have been times when I had to remind myself that we were in the midst of necessary evolution, not the perils of revolution. There have been editorial challenges and personal disappointments, but JANAC has never lowered its standards or missed an issue. The journal has responded to change and steadily moved forward. JANAC and I, as its editor, have been lucky. The journal has had the support and hard work of many dedicated and talented professionals who have helped shepherd its growth. I know of no other journal that has had an editorial board so determined to make it a success. In addition, the journal has had key ANAC leaders who believed in its potential and allowed it to grow. Most important, JANAC has benefited from the efforts of the ANAC membership who have contributed cutting-edge editorials, columns, and manuscripts. The quality of the articles and columns appearing in JANAC has repeatedly been acknowledged by other groups interested in HIV/AIDS care and treatment. In the past year alone, information published in JANAC was highlighted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on their daily Internet summary and included in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Internet update. Several JANAC authors have been solicited to write for other AIDS journals based on their work appearing in the journal.
JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION OF NURSES IN AIDS CARE, Vol. 10, No. 1, January/February 1999, 15-16 Copyright © 1999 Association of Nurses in AIDS Care
16
JANAC Vol. 10, No. 1, January/February 1999
In addition, the JANAC special Adherence issue (Volume 8, Supplement) was distributed to all attendees of the International AIDS Society U.S. conferences. JANAC and its contributors are being positively recognized by others in the AIDS field. Due to the diversity of ANAC and those involved in HIV/AIDS care, every article in the journal may not appeal to the interest of every ANAC member. However, I believe our diversity and investment in diverse activities is our strength. As the only nursing journal devoted to HIV/AIDS care, JANAC’s responsibility goes beyond any singular focus or interest to ensure that clinical, research, and political topics important to all nurses in AIDS care be given a voice. To that end, the journal actively seeks to be your forum for the expression of ideas, sharing of concerns, and exchange of information. The world of HIV/AIDS is ever changing and you, the JANAC readers, have the opportunity to be the engineers of the future response to HIV/AIDS. The JANAC editorial board, with the consultation of the ANAC board, adopted a mission statement for the journal 2 years ago. This mission statement proudly acknowledges the diverse focus of the journal and supports the interdisciplinary exchange of ideas that is needed to improve the care and treatment of persons with HIV/AIDS. The mission statement represents an understanding of the need for nurses to take leadership in making sure that AIDS care remains an important part of the HIV/AIDS response. The statement recognizes the interdependence of those working in HIV/AIDS care and provides a platform for the expansion of the journal’s appeal. HIV/AIDS is not a phenomenon occurring in one group or country. The
World AIDS Conference this past summer underscored the fact that we are facing a global HIV/AIDS pandemic—a pandemic in which the underserved are at greatest risk and treatment advances are not equally available to those infected with HIV. Success in responding to this pandemic may require change in how we view ourselves and how we view those working in HIV/AIDS care in other areas of the world. As we face a new millennium, it is time that we begin to reach out to achieve an exchange of information, experiences, and opinions from around the world with all Nurses in AIDS Care. I have often invited you, the members of ANAC, to contribute to the journal and make it your own. I now extend this invitation to nurses in AIDS care everywhere. To facilitate this outreach to nurses in other countries, two international members have joined the JANAC editorial board. Claes Cederfjäll is the president of the European Nurses in AIDS Care, and Marie-Josée Paquin is the presidentelect of the Canadian Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. I am pleased to have the opportunity to work with these individuals and hope they will be instrumental in causing all nurses in AIDS care to think of JANAC as a journal that is relevant and accessible to them. Those of us who work on JANAC are respectful of the journal’s past and proud of its present, but are looking toward its future. It is true, these additions to the editorial board represent a change from our traditional board structure, but change has historically provided JANAC with the energy for moving forward. Join me in welcoming our colleagues in HIV/AIDS care to JANAC.
Reflecting Our Past—Looking Toward Our Future Richard Sowell, PhD, RN, FAAN
With this issue, JANAC begins its 10th year. We owe much to those who founded the journal and worked diligently over the years to sustain it. To remain relevant to the epidemic that made a nursing journal focusing on HIV/AIDS necessary, JANAC has had to undergo change over the years in its scope and organizational structure. A journal that did not adapt to change would have been left behind in the dynamic evolution of HIV/AIDS care. We have not been left behind. Knowledge related to HIV/AIDS care and treatment has advanced rapidly in the decade and a half since the first cases of a strange new syndrome (GRID) affecting gay men in large cities was identified. The “face of AIDS” has expanded, and we now recognize that all of the human race is a population at risk for HIV infection. Treatments for HIV infection as well as many opportunistic infections not imagined 10 years ago when JANAC began are now the standard of care. The human response to this epidemic has been a paradox demonstrating the depths of human compassion and caring while underscoring prejudice and intolerance. For many on the front lines of HIV/AIDS care, the only constant of the epidemic has been a sense of escalated change. Yet, movement toward better treatment and care has not been fast enough. As might be expected in developing a response to a disease such as HIV infection, prevention and treatment initiatives have been characterized by disappointments intermingled with successes. Despite numerous social, economic, and political obstacles, HIV/AIDS care has steadily moved forward. Although a cure may not be clearly in sight, better treatments for HIV and related infections that increase quality and length of life are a reality. AIDS research and the continued dedication of
the many health professionals working in HIV/AIDS care offer promise for a brighter future. Likewise, I believe that JANAC has undergone the changes associated with growth and has moved steadily forward over the past several years. Do not get me wrong! I would be the first to acknowledge that many of the changes we have experienced as an editorial board and staff have neither been smooth nor comfortable. There have been times when I had to remind myself that we were in the midst of necessary evolution, not the perils of revolution. There have been editorial challenges and personal disappointments, but JANAC has never lowered its standards or missed an issue. The journal has responded to change and steadily moved forward. JANAC and I, as its editor, have been lucky. The journal has had the support and hard work of many dedicated and talented professionals who have helped shepherd its growth. I know of no other journal that has had an editorial board so determined to make it a success. In addition, the journal has had key ANAC leaders who believed in its potential and allowed it to grow. Most important, JANAC has benefited from the efforts of the ANAC membership who have contributed cutting-edge editorials, columns, and manuscripts. The quality of the articles and columns appearing in JANAC has repeatedly been acknowledged by other groups interested in HIV/AIDS care and treatment. In the past year alone, information published in JANAC was highlighted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on their daily Internet summary and included in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Internet update. Several JANAC authors have been solicited to write for other AIDS journals based on their work appearing in the journal.
JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION OF NURSES IN AIDS CARE, Vol. 10, No. 1, January/February 1999, 15-16 Copyright © 1999 Association of Nurses in AIDS Care
16
JANAC Vol. 10, No. 1, January/February 1999
In addition, the JANAC special Adherence issue (Volume 8, Supplement) was distributed to all attendees of the International AIDS Society U.S. conferences. JANAC and its contributors are being positively recognized by others in the AIDS field. Due to the diversity of ANAC and those involved in HIV/AIDS care, every article in the journal may not appeal to the interest of every ANAC member. However, I believe our diversity and investment in diverse activities is our strength. As the only nursing journal devoted to HIV/AIDS care, JANAC’s responsibility goes beyond any singular focus or interest to ensure that clinical, research, and political topics important to all nurses in AIDS care be given a voice. To that end, the journal actively seeks to be your forum for the expression of ideas, sharing of concerns, and exchange of information. The world of HIV/AIDS is ever changing and you, the JANAC readers, have the opportunity to be the engineers of the future response to HIV/AIDS. The JANAC editorial board, with the consultation of the ANAC board, adopted a mission statement for the journal 2 years ago. This mission statement proudly acknowledges the diverse focus of the journal and supports the interdisciplinary exchange of ideas that is needed to improve the care and treatment of persons with HIV/AIDS. The mission statement represents an understanding of the need for nurses to take leadership in making sure that AIDS care remains an important part of the HIV/AIDS response. The statement recognizes the interdependence of those working in HIV/AIDS care and provides a platform for the expansion of the journal’s appeal. HIV/AIDS is not a phenomenon occurring in one group or country. The
World AIDS Conference this past summer underscored the fact that we are facing a global HIV/AIDS pandemic—a pandemic in which the underserved are at greatest risk and treatment advances are not equally available to those infected with HIV. Success in responding to this pandemic may require change in how we view ourselves and how we view those working in HIV/AIDS care in other areas of the world. As we face a new millennium, it is time that we begin to reach out to achieve an exchange of information, experiences, and opinions from around the world with all Nurses in AIDS Care. I have often invited you, the members of ANAC, to contribute to the journal and make it your own. I now extend this invitation to nurses in AIDS care everywhere. To facilitate this outreach to nurses in other countries, two international members have joined the JANAC editorial board. Claes Cederfjäll is the president of the European Nurses in AIDS Care, and Marie-Josée Paquin is the presidentelect of the Canadian Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. I am pleased to have the opportunity to work with these individuals and hope they will be instrumental in causing all nurses in AIDS care to think of JANAC as a journal that is relevant and accessible to them. Those of us who work on JANAC are respectful of the journal’s past and proud of its present, but are looking toward its future. It is true, these additions to the editorial board represent a change from our traditional board structure, but change has historically provided JANAC with the energy for moving forward. Join me in welcoming our colleagues in HIV/AIDS care to JANAC.