November is Home Care and Hospice Month: Thanks for all you do in your respective communities to improve the lives of patients and their loved ones. I hope you and your colleagues have a fun Thanksgiving and Hanukkah or Christmastime and have time to have some restful moments-among all the activities, preparations, and food.
As November begins, the official start of the holiday season-think turkey-this is a good time to reflect on the skill and caring that you bring to bedsides and chair sides across the United States and Canada and around the globe! When reading the newspapers I notice how much healthcare is moving and growing overseas-that includes home care organizations, too. As the world does seem to be "smaller" and we can communicate electronically with those literally a world away [horizontal ellipsis] this is a good time to mention the Inaugural International Home Care Nurse's Organization's meeting being cosponsored by the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University. The dates are June 25-28, 2013 and will be held in Cleveland, Ohio. You are very much invited and we would love to have you join us as we seek to bridge and improve collaboration between education and practice. Information can be found at http://www.IHCNO.org.
As you seek to identify your goals for 2013, I ask that you consider submitting a manuscript for peer review-to Home Healthcare Nurse! I have a list of specific topics that I would like to see addressed, and I know our HHN readership has a broad base of expertise, including clinicians and educators in various disciplines such as nursing, therapies, social work, medicine, dietary/nutrition, respiratory therapists, and many more! I would love to hear from you about your work. This might be original research, a performance improvement project or a patient case study with lessons learned, a synthesis of the literature on a given area relevant to home care and hospice, and many other kinds of articles. To help facilitate the achievement of this possible 2013 goal-to submit a manuscript for review-please find below the HHN Author Guidelines as well as the 2013-2014 (first quarter) Editorial Calendar. I hasten to add that not all papers in a given issue are that one theme. As you know, care at home is too vast and complex so all issues have a number of topics including the theme. Also, if there is a particular topic you wish to read about or see addressed in an upcoming issue of HHN, please e-mail me. We sometimes have very qualified prospective authors seeking to develop an idea to write about and needing a topic that interests them.
The issue of who is an author is a very important one. Shawn Kennedy (2012), the Editor of the American Journal of Nursing, wrote a comprehensive editorial that tells prospective authors and readers. In it, three requirements are reviewed that must be met before you can list yourself as an author. This important topic has many ethical ramifications as well as other aspects that must be addressed for professional journal submissions. To see the Shawn Kennedy and colleagues's full editorial, visit the AJN Web site: http://journals.lww.com/ajnonline/Fulltext/2012/09000/The_Ethics_of_Authorship.1
The theme of this issue is infection control and wound care. To that end, the first CE is an article entitled "The Advanced Practice Wound Ostomy Continence Nurse in Homecare" by Janet Smith. This is an interesting look at a growing role. The second CE is infection-control focused and is entitled "The Updated Immunization Recommendations for Health-Care Personnel." This article is authored by Sharon Martina and Terry Girouard and addresses updates related to specific immunizations and recommendations. The third CE article, by Mellisa Hall, is entitled "Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Asthma." This issue's "Hospice and Palliative Care" feature, "Orthodox Perspectives of the Jewish End-of-Life Experiences," is authored by Regina Prosser, Diane Korman, and Rabbi Akiva Feinstein. The VNAA's contribution is "Evidence-Based Practices in Home Care: How Are We Doing?" by Margaret Terry. This issue's Commentary is particularly poignant reading for those of the Vietnam Era. Scott Janssen in his role as social worker shared his "Honored Communications: The Emergence of Hidden Stories Toward the End-of-Life." I think you will find this issue interesting and educational with its three CEs. Hope you find time to read amidst all the festivities!
I look forward to hearing from you and wish you all the best in this holiday season and time to reflect (if you want to!) on those 2013 goals. If writing for a peer-reviewed journal is on your list, kindly e-mail me directly at [email protected] and we can set up a time to talk and go from there!
2013-2014 Editorial Calendar
January: Pediatric Home Care and Hospice
February: Medications and Their Management
March: Palliative Care and Hospice Care at Home
April: Older Adults and Transitions of Care
May: Rehabilitation at Home
June: Safety and Performance Improvement
July/August: Wound Care and Infection Control and Prevention
September: Technology and Its Use at Home
October: Self-Care and Health Models in Home Care
November/December: Care Management and Models of Care
January 2014: Pediatric Home Care and Hospice
February 2014: Diabetes and Heart Failure
March 2014: Innovations in Management and Practice
April 2014: Home Health Care and Hospice at Home as an Education Site
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