In 2023, we mark the 35th year of publication of our journal. Just four years after the founding of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), the organization's leaders realized that there was a need for a journal to communicate nurse practitioner (NP) science and to promote the role and capabilities of NPs. From the beginning, the journal they conceived was intended to be a peer-reviewed journal that would meet the needs of all nurse practitioners regardless of specialty and practice setting (Towers & Nativio, 1989).
The Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (JAANP) started as a quarterly journal in 1989. Dr. Jan Towers served as the first editor of the journal. Some of the featured articles in the first issue included:
"Nurse Practitioner Political Strength Through Unification"
"Delivery Outcomes of Low-Risk Births: Comparison of Certified Nurse Midwives and Obstetricians"
"National Cholesterol Education Program: Guidelines for Treating High Blood Cholesterol in Adults"
"Preliminary Report of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners National Nurse Practitioner Survey"
"Grass Roots Involvement in the Political Process Makes a Difference"
These titles reflect the dual emphasis of the journal. The goal was always to promote both the science of advanced practice nursing and to encourage legislative advocacy. By doing so, NPs could improve access to health care, the primary reason for the founding of the NP role in the 1960s.
During the first years of publication, the editorial board placed a special emphasis on articles by NPs related to educating other NPs. Dr. Charon Pierson, the second editor of the journal, recalled, "Many nursing education journals were not interested in the topic. We were trying to educate NPs, not mini-doctors, and JAANP was trying to fill some of those voids" (C. Pierson, personal communication, October 22, 2022).
The journal continued to focus on content that met the needs of a growing and diverse organization. It moved from a quarterly to a bimonthly journal in 1993. The following year, it became a monthly publication, as it continues today.
In 2013, the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners merged with the American College of Nurse Practitioners to form the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. The journal name changed to the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners at that time. In 2015, JAANP became an online-only journal.
Since the founding of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, the number of licensed NPs has increased exponentially, from about 23,000 in 1984 to over 68,000 in 1999, and now over 355,000 as of 2022 (American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 2022a). That is more than 5 decades of improving patient access to care and quality of care, with an estimated annual number of patient visits currently exceeding 1.06 billion (AANP, 2022b).
This journal has always been a society journal and a member benefit. All members of AANP are subscribers to JAANP. There are now over 120,000 members of AANP. We are proud to celebrate the enormous achievements of NPs and to bring our growing body of knowledge to light.
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