Ten years ago, when I became editor of Home Healthcare Now (then Home Healthcare Nurse), I wasn't sure exactly what I was getting into. As an author, I often wondered how the process worked and why it took so long to move a manuscript from submission to publication. I've learned a lot in 10 years.

An editor is responsible for compiling the content of a journal. My day starts by checking the editorial management system where authors submit their manuscripts. Here I can see if there are new submissions, or if the requested peer reviews for a manuscript have been completed, or if an author has submitted a revision. New submissions delight me. I quickly scan them to be certain they are a fit for Home Healthcare Now, then I select reviewers with expertise in that area. Finding reviewers and getting quality reviews is the most challenging aspect of the job and the most important in terms of ensuring quality content. Reviewers are people with many other work responsibilities, and I am grateful they take time from their busy days to review manuscripts and offer suggestions for improvement. As an author myself, I can honestly say every one of my publications was made better by peer review. This is the step that takes the longest though. I am fortunate to have an editorial board composed of expert home care clinicians who do many of the manuscript reviews.

I love receiving manuscripts from first-time authors. It is a wonderful feeling to nurture and encourage new authors who will contribute a great deal to the profession over the course of their careers. I also delight in receiving manuscripts from "boots on the ground" clinicians. This is how I learn about issues facing home care clinicians in the real world.

Once the reviews are completed (two or three depending on the topic and type of manuscript), I read the reviewers' comments, add my own, and send an email to the author with one of four decisions: accept, accept with minor revisions, major revisions, or reject. Almost all manuscripts undergo revisions to some extent. Most authors promptly revise and resubmit. I regret when authors opt not to revise, but it is, of course, their choice.

I speak often with my publisher, Randi Davis. Once a year Randi hosts an editorial board meeting where she updates members of the editorial board and me on trends in publishing and on the performance of Home Healthcare Now over the past year. I also communicate with board members of the International Home Care Nurse Association. They too are vital lifelines to the issues home care clinicians around the world are facing.

Every other month I have the pleasure of sitting down and reading the latest issue of Home Healthcare Now. I take this opportunity to value and silently thank the many people who made it happen-authors, reviewers, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins staff, and last but not least, our readers.

Earlier smoking cessation may improve lung cancer survival

NIH: Lung cancer rates have been declining in recent years, along with a drop in the number of smokers, but about 75% of patients dying within five years of diagnosis. Researchers examined the links between pre-diagnosis smoking behaviors and survival. They enrolled 5,500 patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Participants were asked detailed information about their history of smoking behaviors - the age when they started smoking, how much they smoked, and if and when they stopped. At enrollment, the majority of patients were former smokers (3,308), followed by current smokers (1,491), and people who had never smoked (795). During the study, 70% of patients died (79% of current smokers, 67% of former smokers, and 60% of never smokers). Overall, the researchers found former smokers had a 26% higher death rate, and current smokers a 68% higher death rate, compared with patients who had never smoked. Among those who had ever smoked, a doubling of smoking pack years was linked to shorter survival. The odds of survival were significantly increased among participants who had ever smoked if there was a longer time period between quitting and diagnosis.