The success of any project or undertaking is dependent on the people who are part of the venture. Fifteen years ago, Ann Maher, Sue Salmond, and I were asked to create a new vision for Orthopaedic Nursing. As part of that process, we began to dream of what we wanted the journal to become. We knew that the journal was the leader in orthopaedic nursing education and the number-one member benefit for members of the National Association of Orthopaedic Nurses; however, we knew it could be more. The NAON leadership asked us to look at new opportunities for partnerships to take Orthopaedic Nursing to a new level. That request led us to look for how we could increase dissemination of the journal information to others outside of the organizational members.
In 2002, as part of this project, we met Sandy Kasko and Jenn Brogan from Lippincott Williams and Wilkins (LWW). During the initial meeting with Sandy and Jenn, we had the opportunity to help further define the possibilities for Orthopaedic Nursing. From taking the paper-and-pencil journal with stacks of paper manuscripts and reviewer reports to an electronic format; increasing the online presence of the journal, opening it up to more readers both in the states and internationally; and increasing its reputation in the nursing and scientific communities were just some of the things that we had hoped to achieve.
When it was decided that we would begin publishing our journal with the help of LWW, Sandy Kasko was appointed to be the publisher. It was evident from the very beginning that Sandy was going to be a catalyst to help us move Orthopaedic Nursing in the correct direction and to help us achieve our dream. Many changes occurred during the past 11 years. The journal moved to an electronic platform that allows the submission and management of all manuscripts. No longer do we have stacks of paper sitting in our offices. This electronic process allows us to move manuscripts through the peer review and publication process much more rapidly.
Sandy spearheaded the application and review by the Science and Scholarly Research division of Thomson Reuters that annually publishes the Journal of Citation Report (JCR), which resulted in Orthopaedic Nursing being one of the first specialty nursing journals to be added to the nursing titles that are reviewed for impact factor. This was a very important achievement that will continue to advance the reputation of Orthopaedic Nursing.
Another area of growth that has been achieved during Sandy's tenure is the development of our continuing education program. Today, Orthopaedic Nursing is ranked number three of all LWW journals in the volume of continuing education manuscripts that have been reviewed and completed, with the American Journal of Nursing and Nursing 2013 as the only journals above Orthopaedic Nursing.
The journal has also gained a tremendously improved presence on the internet, with over 68,000 visitors to the journal website in 2013 and over 189,000 page reviews. Orthopaedic Nursing is included in the Ovid collection, and there were over 84,600 views of articles. These are very impressive statistics for the journal.
The dream became a reality under Sandy Kasko's tenure as publisher of Orthopaedic Nursing. Sandy held us to a higher standard, while at the same time being a friend to the editorial board. With all of the hard work came some fun memories from "mighty nice dinners" to testing the oxygen bar in Vegas. Sandy truly was the perfect partner. We wish her well as she moves on to different roles and responsibilities with Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
As we begin a new era with Randi Davis as the publisher of Orthopaedic Nursing, we know that we are in good hands. We have gotten to know Randi over the last couple of years and see the same attentive and supportive qualities are present. We welcome Randi to the orthopaedic nursing world and look forward to many great years ahead.