SCI Nursing Journal

Deanna Persaud, MSN, RN

SCI Nursing, the official publication of the American Association of SCI Nurses (AASCIN) for over 20 years, has joined the era of electronic publishing. As we begin this new venture as an “online” journal, it seems appropriate to point out ways that our new format will benefit you, the reader.

Let me begin by assuring you that the quality and focus characteristic of SCI Nursing will remain unchanged. Our journal will retain its scholarly integrity through the continued use of the blinded peer review process for all feature articles. We will continue to share information important to our readers via regular columns such as: A Message from the President, AASCIN News, Research Corner, Innovation Station, Aging Column, Leadership Circle, and reviews of books and periodicals. Announcements and Bulletin Board items will be used to provide our readers with current information regarding opportunities to participate in AASCIN activities as well as continuing educational opportunities in other professional organizations which impact the care of persons with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI/D).

As an online journal, you will have access to SCI Nursing anywhere and anytime you have access to the World Wide Web. Have you ever glanced at a journal, put it aside to read later, then found you were unable to locate that particular issue when the time was right? Having SCI Nursing online will save both time and space. Whether you are at work or at home, you will always know where to access the information you need. You will no longer need to deal with clutter caused by stacks of unorganized professional journals.

In addition to saving time finding an article, if you are researching a particular topic, you will now have the ability to link to references within the text to quickly access other resources available on the Internet. This will allow you to do a quick visual scan of an article to see if it contains what you are looking for before going to the time and expense of printing it out.

With SCI Nursing online, AASCIN will have the ability to share information with a large population of health care professionals from around the world. This will expand our ability to meet our organizational goal of improving the care and quality of life for persons with SCI/D.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all of the past editors of SCI Nursing as well as all past and current members of the AASCIN Editorial Board. These individuals have donated many volunteer hours to assure that the quality of material published in our journal meet our goal of keeping the membership informed of cutting edge information regarding clinical, educational, research, legislative, and professional practice issues. They have shaped our journal into what it is today.

To flourish, SCI Nursing requires a constant supply of new material. I encourage each of you to examine your practice setting. Have you had an interesting or challenging patient that required a creative nursing intervention? Has your unit experienced a change of leadership or management style? Are you doing research related to SCI care? Have you tried a new educational approach while working with your patients/staff? These are only a few examples of type of information you can develop into manuscripts and submit to SCI Nursing. Please share your experiences with your professional colleagues. Let us all help each other to be the best nurses we can possibly be.

As we transition into this new electronic format, I welcome your input regarding how SCI Nursing can best meet your needs.

Deanna Persaud, MSN, RN, is editor of SCI Nursing and a professor of nursing at California State University, Chico. Please contact her with comments, questions, and suggestions at DPersaudRN@aol.com.

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This entry was posted on Monday, May 1st, 2006 at 1:11 pm and is filed under SCI Nursing, SCI Research, SCI Rehabilitation, Miscellaneous, Nurse Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.