Hello, my name is Jessica Inch and it is with nervous anticipation that I find myself taking over from Melanie Oakley as the new BJARN Editor. I would like to start by thanking Melanie for all the hard work she has put in to the journal and BARNA in its entirety over the past 5 years and hope that I can follow in her footsteps by bringing you a motivational journal.
When I was first approached by Melanie to succeed her, my first reaction was that of surprise. What did I have that would make me a worthy Editor? I am 25, with a BSc in Adult Nursing from Oxford Brookes University along with a number of post-graduate qualifications in areas such as teaching, ECG recognition and high dependency care. Once qualified, I worked as part of the musculoskeletal infection team, moving to elective orthopaedic and spinal surgical wards. I then ‘discovered’ the Recovery and Post Anaesthetic Care Unit, and went on to work in this area in Oxford. Next, I transferred to a Recovery unit in Hammersmith, and now work as an Advanced Practitioner alongside Melanie in the PACU of the South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre in Surrey. Does this alone qualify me? I do have a great interest in academic writing, in order to further my own knowledge and that of others, but have always associated journal writing with ‘20-plus years of nursing experience’.
This got me thinking. Does the length of time that someone has been nursing, directly equate to the quality of what they write, or the opinion they have to express? The answer is, of course, ‘No’. I realise that experience is extremely important, the first person I call to discuss issues with is my mother, a nurse of 30 years and as she tells me, ‘Experience is the process within the learning, and you learn something new every day. In nursing there is no finishing line to cross.’ So why are we looking for excuses? Many colleagues have said to me, ‘What would I write about, I haven't got any letters after my name.’ So why are so many of us waiting for that finishing line? Nursing is constantly changing at a rapid rate, and it is the nurse in the middle of these adaptations that we learn from. It is more than ever a continuous learning process that never ceases, which is why I have embraced this new personal learning opportunity with confidence and greatly look forward to all it will teach me. I greatly enjoy the area of Recovery and Anaesthetics, and I hope that this is apparent through my future Editorials.
But I cannot do it without you. This is my way of asking you all to contribute to the further knowledge of your colleagues and solidify your own body of knowledge, by submitting an article to your journal. We all have ownership of specific banks of knowledge and this is an exciting platform of which to place it as well as greatly increase your working profile. What was your last course submission, or teaching session? Has your unit recently undergone a change or implementation of a new aspect of patient care that would lend itself to a piece of reflection? I greatly appreciate the pressures that many are under balancing work and a home life, but your submission need not be time-consuming. Maybe you have discovered an invaluable source of education, a web site or a book that you would like to share with others in the form of a simple review. Maybe you have recently commenced a new role that needs to be shared. All of these make interesting and useful reading to your fellow members and I really look forward to hearing from as many of you as possible. You will find advice and contact addresses for the submission of articles and other relevant work further on in this issue, so give it a go, it is an exciting and rewarding process to be part of.
I leave you with a few plans for the future of your journal. Along side your much anticipated submissions, I would like to bring you a collection of themed issues, taking into consideration the main perioperative nursing issues. More than ever before, nurses are travelling abroad to work; and for this reason, I hope to commence an International issue of the BJARN, with research and experiences of Anaesthetic and Recovery nursing from around the world. Once again, this depends on your interaction and I hope that we can work together to bring you what you want from this journal.
