The editorial team at Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing (DCCN) is composed of professionals who offer distinctive perspectives, specific knowledge, and an unwavering commitment to scholarly publication. This team, consisting of our editorial board and consultants, works to inform and support our journal every day. A strong editorial team is essential to our vibrant journal, as it provides expertise to support both the needs of authors and readers.
I am honored and humbled to work with this talented group of individuals who include people from different areas of the country, holding positions in critical care, acute care, and in academic institutions. Our team includes clinical specialist, administrators, professors, clinical educators, advanced practice nurses, and bedside nurses. This expansive scope and unique talent pool help to inform us about the needs of critical care patients and nurses. This knowledge provides structure to support the 4 dimensions of critical care nursing.
The make-up and responsibilities of every board vary from journal to journal. Most are volunteers or receive little compensation-yet their commitment equates or exceeds the work performed by top chief executive officers and corporate board members. This is true at DCCN, where our team also functions as journal ambassadors, searching for ideas, new authors, and reviewers. Through continuous engagement, our members serve as reviewers and advisors to the editor and often work closely on specific projects as developmental editors or project advisors. In addition, they provide an expanded scope of practice that helps us provide evidence-based knowledge to an international audience. Often, they advise the editor toward a new direction or focus in changing times and bring innovation and new talents in emerging practice areas.
Editorial boards always include professional with creative minds and very often many who are well known in their fields. Editor and advisory relationships often grow serendipitously, through professional friendships, membership in professional organizations, or chance encounters. During the publishing process, an editor may encounter a gifted writer and finds their enthusiasm and passion for this work enticing. Often, a working relationship develops that is simply just a great fit! Always, the relationship is based on mutual respect and admiration for work well done.
The excellent work of the editorial team and our publishers over the last few years has resulted in many new submissions and innovative topics. We are pleased to have launched some new authors and highlighted exciting work from the profession's top performers.
DCCN is proud to welcome 4 talented professionals to our editorial team.
Sherill Nones Cronin, PhD, RN-BC, DCCN Editorial Board 2015 to Present
Dr Cronin is the chair of Graduate Nursing Studies and professor of nursing at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. Dr Cronin received her BSN from the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, her MSN from the University of Louisville, Kentucky, and her PhD in nursing from the University of Kentucky, Lexington, and holds certification in medical-surgical nursing through the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Her clinical background is in intensive care nursing, and she has been a nurse educator for more than 25 years. She also held a joint appointment as clinical nurse researcher with Jewish Hospital in Louisville for more than 15 years and currently serves as the nursing research and evidence-based practice consultant for Baptist Health Louisville. This mix of academic and clinical backgrounds helps drive her passion for bringing research to the bedside, and she has worked with staff nurses and clinical specialists on numerous projects that cover a broad range of clinical nursing topics. Cronin is an American Nurses Credentialing Center Magnet appraiser and is widely published in the area of clinical nursing research.
Vickie A. Miracle, EdD, RN, CCRC, DCCN Editorial Board 2015 to Present
Dr Miracle has been a critical care nurse for her entire career, serving in a variety of roles-staff nurse, nurse manager, critical care clinical nurse specialist, clinical research coordinator, and director of education, among others. She has extensive experience in writing, publishing, and speaking at the local, state, and national levels. Her involvement with DCCN began in 1990 when she was asked to serve as a reviewer of manuscripts for potential publication. Dr Miracle served on the board of directors from 1995 to 2001 at which time she became the editor (2001-2013).
Dr Miracle continued to s serve as a consultant to DCCN and most recently accepted an invitation to join the editorial board. She states "DCCN has helped me achieve many goals I set for myself many years ago and has been a rewarding experience."
Dr Miracle teaches at Bellarmine University. She is actively caring for 4 aging parents and writing whenever she can. Dr Miracle lives with her husband in Louisville Fire, loves to travel, and looks forward to more cruises and serving on the editorial board of DCCN.
Patricia M. Reilly, MSN, BSN, RN, DCCN Consultant 2015 to Present
As director of Nursing Caring & Healing Modalities Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, Pat brings her compassion and expertise as a critical care nurse to help patients and nurses understand and manage the complexities of stress and illness. Previous roles include serving as a director of surgical services at Tufts New England Medical Center and program manager for integrative care at Brigham and Woman's, introducing complementary therapies into acute care settings, including therapeutic touch, Reiki, meditation, guided imagery, music therapy, and acupuncture. Pat explains, "These tools help critical care nurses manage their stress, so they can be present and available for their patients-and for all aspects of their life."
Her research includes studies such as the Prepare for Surgery Program, Development of a Hospital Reiki Program, and a recent research project to determine the impact of auricular acupuncture to relieve health care workers' stress and anxiety.
As an international speaker and renowned expert in this field, Pat is expanding her expertise to examine the growing problem of posttraumatic stress disorder in critical care patients and caregivers. Most recently, Pat and colleague, Teresa Buchanan, began to pilot educational offerings on building resilience utilizing HeartMath techniques. She explains, "HeartMath is the capacity to prepare for, recover from, and adapt in the face of stress challenge or adversity." We welcome this team to DCCN.
Teresa Moore Buchanan, MBA, BSN, RN, DCCN Consultant 2015 to Present
Over her nursing career, Teresa has served in a wide range of positions ranging from bedside care, managerial, educational, and consultant roles. She tells us, "I've found that what really excites and energizes me is to be able to take a new idea or one that is not fully developed or realized and mold it into something tangible and of value. This can include the creation of a new program or bringing an existing one to its full potential, development of new ways to support staff and patients, or coming up with and implementing creative solutions to long-standing problems. The process usually involves working with teams and most importantly helping each team member "discover" their voice and utilize their gifts and talents."
Teresa is a nursing project manager for the Nursing Caring & Healing Modalities Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital. This role provides her with the opportunity to do that what she loves most. Working with the director of the program, she has created opportunities/vehicles for staff to receive education and skills regarding alternative modalities to support patients. Recent projects include creation of a staff resiliency education program that is offered monthly, education in acupressure to help staff manage both their own and patient symptoms, research in the use of auricular acupuncture to reduce symptoms of burnout and compassion fatigue in health care providers, and the creation and placement of videos such as self-Reiki and harp music on the bedside televisions for use by inpatients and families.
Teresa adds, "Being a consultant for Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing provides a unique chance for inspiring myself and others to write and share ideas about the use and benefits of alternative and complementary modalities for ourselves, patients, families, and colleagues."
Kathleen Ahern Gould, PhD, RN
Editor in Chief, Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing
Adjunct Faculty, William F. Connell School of Nursing
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts