ON LEADERSHIP

Happy New Year! This first issue of JHPN for 2018 celebrates leadership in Palliative Nursing. You will notice the new emblem on the cover which recognizes that this issue marks the 20th anniversary of the Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing. This is cause for celebration, as we recognize the hundreds of authors over these 20 years who have built our profession by contributing their work. In the words of John Quincy Adams, "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." Every author who publishes in the journal lives up to these words and we are grateful for their contributions.

This issue also includes a very important section containing four papers based on the Palliative Nursing Summit convened by HPNA in 2017. HPNA leadership planned and convened a meeting for nursing organizations to come together to discuss opportunities for palliative care across nursing specialties. The Summit itself is a model of leadership-by seizing the opportunity even amidst very challenging times to imagine what more can be done to inspire the care of seriously ill people, across ages and diseases. The Summit brought together nursing leaders to strategize ways that nursing can collectively impact care. The papers in this issue provide an overview of the Summit and also key clinical areas, including communication, coordination of care, and pain/symptom management. We are grateful for the leadership of HPNA's CEO Sally Welsh, Dr. Polly Mazanec as HPNA Board Member and coordinator of these papers, and to all of the authors and Summit participants. These papers are a road map of the important work ahead for palliative care nurses to lead the way in health care.

There are many definitions of leadership, but one of my favorites is a brief one by Ben Bradley who said, "Leadership is unlocking people's potential to become better." The papers in this issue invite each of us to become better. They also address ethical issues, as in the paper by Bressler and Popp on caring for an Orthodox Jewish patient and the paper by Herman, Horner, Ly, and Vayl on deactivation of defibrillators in heart failure. This issue reflects the broad terrain of palliative nursing education, and seeking better methods to support critical symptoms such as dyspnea and dysphagia. I would add to Ben Bradley's definition that when we become better, the people we serve do better.

Every HPNA member owes a big round of thanks to the HPNA Board for their work in hosting this Nursing Summit and in now disseminating the outcomes through publication. They didn't wait until times were easy. They didn't wait until they had extra time or for when it was convenient. They did it now, because society needs palliative care and nurses are prepared to lead that care.

Betty Ferrell, PhD, MA, FAAN, FPCN, CHPN

Editor-in-Chief

[email protected]