With this issue of Cancer Nursing, we celebrate the completion of 30 years of publication. With this issue also, I complete 30 years of guiding and facilitating the publication of the work of cancer nurses and the health care community throughout the world. It has been an honor and a privilege for me to witness the ever evolving world of cancer nursing as a specialty, and it is gratifying to see the global community address the multiple research and clinical care issues that this specialty engenders.
It seems just a very short time ago that the inaugural issue was published to provide a vehicle to document accomplishments in the specialized field of cancer nursing. When we look back at all that has occurred and continues to occur at a rapid rate, it is surprising to see how short a period of time it has actually been. When the first issue of Cancer Nursing was published in 1978, cancer nursing research was in its infancy. A review of research articles in that first year of publication reveals only 2 articles, both by American authors.
Fast forward to 2007 and we can point with pride to the international representation of cancer nursing research and clinical care articles. Since Cancer Nursing transitioned from a paper-based journal to a paperless online system in 2006, we have processed manuscripts from 34 countries-a truly global picture of cancer nursing today. Another milestone in recognition of the increasing sophistication and complexity of cancer nursing research was the inauguration of an annual research award in 1993. To date, researchers from the United States, Canada, China, Greece, and Malaysia/United Kingdom have been honored.
In 1983, in response to an increasing awareness of the cancer problem throughout the world and the need to facilitate communications within the profession, the International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care was founded. The editorial board of Cancer Nursing, with the financial and administrative support of the first publisher of Cancer Nursing, Masson Publishing, enabled the idea to become a reality. The International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care continues today to provide a network between national and regional societies and to facilitate the dissemination of information on developments in cancer nursing throughout the world.
The world has experienced many changes in the past 30 years, changes that have facilitated the growth and development of the specialty of cancer nursing. Thirty years ago, fax machines were just starting to be heard of; voicemail was not in our vocabulary; and e-mail had not yet assumed such a prominent place in our lives. It took longer to communicate with one another, and only a few could have imagined the technology explosion that would be the catalyst for the rapidly moving world we live in today.
As I look back on the past 30 years, I do so with enthusiasm and a renewed interest for the future. The new editor in chief of Cancer Nursing will face even greater challenges in a more rapidly changing environment in which those who deliver care in any way must be ready to function. I have absolutely no doubt that your new editor in chief, Pamela Hinds, PhD, RN, FAAN, is up to the challenge of the next 30 years.
Carol Reed Ash, EdD, RN, FAAN
Editor in Chief,Cancer Nursing(TM)