In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA), the Journal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing (JHPN) will devote the November/December 2006 issue to evidence-based practice in hospice and palliative care nursing. Evidence-based nursing practice is the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients.1 It encompasses implementing best-known practices into the clinical setting using a scientific approach. HPNA supports the importance of evidence-based practice in hospice and palliative nursing through its position paper, which was ratified in 2004.2 It seemed fitting to celebrate this milestone anniversary in the history of HPNA by providing a forum to showcase evidence-based practice in JHPN.

HPNA members and JHPN readers are encouraged to consider submitting manuscripts for review for this special issue. The types of articles may include, but are not limited to, the following: integrative reviews (also called systematic reviews), meta-analyses, meta-syntheses, practice guidelines, outcomes analyses, and clinical/ critical pathways presented in the context ofa paper describing their use. Topics of a particular interest that have been identified by the HPNA Board and endorsed by the JHPN Editorial Advisory Board include the following: (1) pain-opioid rotation, (2) delirium, (3) dyspnea, (4) palliative sedation, and (5) hospice and palliative care nursing: then and now. Again, these topics are of interest but content need not be limited to only these areas; all appropriate manuscripts will be considered for review. All submissions must be received by April 1, 2006, for consideration for this anniversary issue. Manuscripts that are favorably reviewed but not selected for publication in the November/December 2006 issue will be scheduled for publication in 2007.

Articles will be subject to standard peer review. Please follow the "Information for Authors" for manuscript preparation and submission instructions. If you have any questions or would like to discuss a particular topic, please contact the Editor-in-Chief, Leslie H. Nicoll, at [email protected] or by phone or mail: Editorial Office, JHPN, 10A Beach St, Suite 2, Portland, ME 04101; Tel: 207-553-7750.

Leslie H. Nicoll, PhD, MBA, RN, BC

Editor-in-Chief

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