I am saddened and disappointed to read that AJN will neither be the official journal of the ANA nor be provided as a benefit of membership. This seems to be an unfortunate example of the ANA not knowing or valuing our professional history and heritage.

Sophia French Palmer (1853-1920), first editor of AJN, helped establish what we now know as the ANA and proposed that journal subscriptions be included with membership. This dream was not realized until 1996, when a sales agreement with the ANA made it possible for each state nurses' association member to receive the journal. What a pity that the dream took so long to fulfill and was so short lived.

Palmer saw nursing organizations as the best way to educate nurses. Her editorials addressed critical issues like nursing curricula, the need to standardize nursing training, the exploitation of nurses by hospital programs, the need for state laws to regulate nursing, and the need for nursing to oversee regulations for training schools.

Palmer, a member of the ANA Hall of Fame, strengthened both the nursing press and nursing organizations during her two decades with the journal. I am hopeful that this decision will be reversed.

Patricia T. van Betten, RN

Blue Diamond, NV