With this issue of MCN I begin my fifth year as Editor. I try not to use too many cliches in these editorials, but this occasion seems to call out for one: Where has the time gone? It truly seems like last week that Lisa Marshall from Lippincott shocked me with a phone call asking if I'd like to interview for the position of Editor of MCN, a job I never even imagined would be a part of my professional life. It seems like last week, and yet it also seems like years ago, that I undertook this sacred trust of adding to the professional literature. What did I do with my time before I was mentoring authors, finding excellent reviewers, schmoozing with publishers and marketers, learning the business, making popular and equally unpopular decisions, and spending untold hours editing manuscripts? It has been the best time of my career, and the time when I feel I've been able to make the most impact on my profession. I've said it often: This position as Editor of MCN is a privilege for which I will be ever grateful.

This issue of MCN brings with it some new additions to the masthead, so welcomes are in order. For the past 5 years the seven women who have served as my Editorial Board have assisted me in my MCN endeavors. Each member not only advises me, but also actively contributes to each issue of the journal, writing the ongoing columns. Today I welcome two additional members. Sylvia Wood, CNM, has agreed to join us to help lend a stronger midwifery voice to our Board, and we are so pleased to have her! Sylvia is known to many of you for her years of hard work at AWHONN and as one of its former Presidents. Sylvia is now at Pacific Lutheran University in Washington. She will begin adding her voice to the "Toward Evidence Based Practice" column found at the end of each issue of MCN. This important column, which summarizes research found in other journals and helps MCN 's readers to understand why that research is important to their own practice, will be enriched by Sylvia's unique perspective on healthcare and the healthcare system. I'm so pleased that she has agreed to join us in further strengthening MCN.

I also welcome another new Editorial Board member, Heidi vonKoss Krowchuk, PhD, RN, of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Heidi is a pediatric clinical nurse specialist, expert in all areas of pediatric nursing. I'm pleased to announce that Heidi will join Kathleen Rice Simpson as a coordinator of MCN 's Second Opinion column. Second Opinion, MCN 's wildly popular debate column, is a must-read for subscribers. We're told that it is used in nursing education classes across the nation as a basis for important discussions on the most pressing topics in our specialties of perinatal and pediatric nursing. I hear from nurses constantly thanking us for this column, and describing how it helped them consider controversial subjects in a new and more scholarly manner. For the past 5 years Kathleen has coordinated every Second Opinion column, a formidable job that she has executed fantastically. Just imagine deciding on the topics, finding authors willing to argue each side, getting them to write their arguments on time, editing those arguments, and doing this six times per year! No one could have done this with more grace and ability than Kathleen. I'm happy to report now, however, that Kathleen will no longer be alone in this task. Heidi will take on one-half of the columns; Kathleen will be responsible for three perinatal columns, and Heidi for three pediatric columns each year. I know MCN 's readers will be enriched by Heidi's contributions. Welcome!

Because this is the first issue of the new year, it is time to announce the winners of the MCN Practice Paper of the Year and MCN Research Paper of the Year for 2002. I love doing this, for it gives me the opportunity to celebrate nursing's creativity and depth of knowledge. The Editorial Board members screen articles published during the calendar year, and vote on the articles that have an important impact on practice for clinical nurses. The winner of the 2002 MCN Research Paper of the Year is Paula Renker, PhD, RN, of the University of Akron, Akron, OH for her study on physical abuse in adolescents before pregnancy. All nurses who work with adolescents should read her powerful qualitative study, which described how these young women felt about being victimized. The 2002 MCN Practice Paper of the Year is by Susan Ritchie, MPH, CPNP, a nurse practitioner at the West Virginia School of Medicine. Her superb article was about the primary care needed for preterm babies after discharge from the NICU.

So, welcome Sylvia and Heidi, and kudos to Paula and Susan. So far, the start of my fifth year is going very well indeed.