I'm very excited to tell you this month that MCN is initiating two new ongoing columns!! Wherever I go, I ask readers what they think of MCN, and what they want to read. Many people have given me great ideas. Now, I'm pleased to implement two of them, and you will be able to read important details about these topics in every issue of MCN.

The first new column is Perinatal Patient Safety. Beginning with the publication of the Institute of Medicine's "To Err is Human" report in 2000, nurses started actively discussing patient safety in a whole new way. We realized after that report a need to focus much more closely on which parts of our practice were prone to accidents and errors, and to consider methods we could use to decrease errors in the care we give. The American Academy of Nursing established a 3-day meeting around that topic, and numerous other conferences have focused on patient safety as well. Nurses nationwide started to think closely about this topic, write about it, and work toward making care safer. One nurse who is totally passionate about the idea of patient safety in the perinatal arena is Kathleen Rice Simpson. Dr. Simpson is an MCN editorial board member who speaks all over the United States about how to give safer care to mothers and infants. She has also studied aspects of safe care for many years, and serves as a consultant to help institutions make their care safer. I have heard Kathleen speak about this topic many times, and I always learn something new. Happily for me, and especially for you, she will be writing the new Perinatal Patient Safety column in each issue of MCN. Her first column discusses the leading cause of malpractice suits in perinatal health-induction and augmentation of labor. Kathleen succinctly explains the problem, and how you can make your care safer. Her column will appear at the back of every issue of MCN, and each column will contain a box that includes the most important items to consider in safety for that topic. This column will be invaluable in L&D units, and will be just as useful for physicians as it is for nurses. We hope that nurses will post her columns on bulletin boards and discuss them. Kathleen hopes that her column will be another way to assist all of us to provide safer care for mothers and infants.

Columns about "Perinatal Patient Safety" and "Infant Nutrition" will now appear in every issue of MCN.

The second new column is entitled Infant Nutrition. I'm especially pleased to have found a highly qualified nurse to write this column, for this is a topic that is constantly changing, and therefore it is difficult for the average nurse to keep up with all the new data. The science of nutrition is becoming so complex that all of us practically need new intensive courses just to get up to speed!! Karen Morin, a professor at Western Michigan University and a long time colleague of mine from AWHONN, is the author of this column. I know you'll find it fascinating. Do you understand all those new additives being touted as necessary for infant brain development? Well, Karen Morin will classify this information for you, and explain in it terms we can all understand. Karen has a long-term interest in the topic of nutrition, and has authored many articles on the topic, so she is a perfect choice to write this column. I know you'll enjoy her column and learn from it.

So welcome to the columnists, and thank you for being willing to share your expertise with the great MCN audience. And to all of you out there, do e-mail me and let me know how you like the columns, and how you're using them. I always love feedback.