As we greet the new year, skin and wound care professionals have once again shown their resiliency by continuing to creatively provide patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the pandemic was not anticipated, clinicians had to quickly adapt to new protocols and implement care with virtual and transformed strategies.
Depending on our country of citizenship or residency, travel was often restricted, and many of us celebrated life milestones and holidays without the usual cadre of family and friends. That said, over the past several months, the number of active COVID-19 cases has declined in some parts of the world. There is a need to safely resume in-person scientific meetings and promote in-person communication. Those healthcare professionals who feel safe doing so are ready to meet this need and have set about making plans to go to in-person meetings and conferences. However, other colleagues have concerns such as coexisting health conditions, family commitments, and children who are not yet eligible for vaccination. Accordingly, some conferences are offering hybrid or blended options that combine virtual and in-person attendance. This is also very important for the developing world including most African countries where the vaccination rates are very low, even among healthcare professionals.
Currently, there are several important US-based conferences planned in early 2022. Advances in Skin & Wound Care is the official journal for the American Professional Wound Care Association. We are looking forward to seeing our colleagues at their rescheduled in-person Wound Week 2022 conference in Philadelphia on February 24 through 27. March is the month for the annual National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel conference in Tampa, Florida, and June sees WOCNext in Fort Worth, Texas-a joint conference by the Wound Ostomy Continence Nurses Society and the World Council of Enterostomal Therapists.
In addition, the sixth congress of the World Union of Wound Healing Societies is set to occur in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This meeting is very important for the role nursing will have on the international stage. We are so proud of the International Interprofessional Wound Care Course (IIWCC) graduate, Gulnaz Tariq, MSc, BSc, RN, PG Dip (UK), who in 2020 became the first woman and first nurse president of the World Union. Since the organization's founding in 2000, the presidents have included five men, including three surgeons (Michael Stacey, Luc Teot, and Sadanori Akita) and two dermatologists (Gary Sibbald and Marco Romanelli). Read more about President Gulnaz's personal journey in her Practice Reflections in this issue. Her amazing personal life story includes the following:
* Earning an officer role in the Pakistani military
* Nursing in Abu Dhabi and enrolling in the University of Toronto's IIWCC in Iran
* Establishing a Wound Care Center of Excellence at Sheik Kalif Medical City Abu Dhabi including establishing "link nurses" on every inpatient ward who are connected to the wound care team
* Founding the United Arab Emirates IIWCC, which is now in its 10th year (currently with 118 students)
* Establishing the International Interprofessional Wound Care Group, the society that won the bid for this year's twice delayed conference in Abu Dhabi
Of course, she has an amazing team of colleagues who are working diligently alongside her to make the congress a stellar international educational event: Hiske Smart, Secretary General; Afsaneh Alavi, Chair, International Affairs; and Dieter Mayer, Chair, Scientific and Ethics Committee, to name a few. For more about the congress, be sure to listen to the journal's interview with Ms Tariq, Empowering and Supporting Societies: The World Union of Wound Healing Societies, available at http://www.ASWCjournal.com.
As we look forward to the events of 2022, we also look back at some of the important literature published in 2020 on pressure injuries (PIs). In this month's continuing education article, the interprofessional nurse/physician team of Drs Saindon and Berlowitz has summarized six influential articles and provided their critique and insights into each. This issue also offers articles on burns, diabetic foot ulcers, negative-pressure wound therapy, and venous leg ulcers: something for everyone.
Finally, we are delighted to share that this entire year of publications will be full of special content: we are ready to celebrate the journal's 35th year of publication starting next month with a reflective journey through skin and wound care's past, present, and future.
Elizabeth A. Ayello, PhD, MS, BSN, RN, CWON, ETN, MAPWCA, FAAN
R. Gary Sibbald, MD, DSc (Hons), MEd, BSc, FRCPC (Med Derm), FAAD, MAPWCA, JM