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Nurse Education in Practice 11 (2011) 1–3

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Nurse Education in Practice

journal homepage: www.elsevier .com/nepr

Editorial

A decade of contributing to scholarship and developments in nurse educationinternationally

Ten years ago, in March 2001, we launched the first issue ofNurse Education in Practice, a new international journal publishedby Harcourt-International, and closely linked at that time to theother international nurse education journal Nurse Education Today.I became its first editor, having developed the idea for its need andsuccessfully gaining the support of the publishers for its launch. Iwas mentored throughout this process by Professor Peter Birche-nall, who was at the time Editor in Chief of Nurse Education Today,who had previously entrusted me with ‘holding the fort’ for him atNET as Associate Editor during a period of absence. This experienceand insight into the role of an editor has been instrumental in theway I have developed this journal and most importantly guidedmy philosophy on publishing innovative developments in educa-tion practice, encouraging and supporting publications by newauthors as well as the promoting international dialogue throughevidence-based nursing education. Being a journal editor not onlybrings with it a certain degree of responsibility with ‘gate keeping’quality evidence to underpin practice, but also an essential level oftrust by potential authors that their hard work will be reviewedprofessionally and that appropriate and constructive feedbackwill be given. The excellent reviewers for the journal are to becongratulated and thanked for their invaluable contribution to itssuccessful transition into a journal where authors want to publishtheir work as well as contributing through their feedback to thescholarship of nurse education.

Another valued colleague who started on this journey with mewas Professor Patrick Crookes, now Dean of the Faculty of Healthand Behavioural Sciences and Head of Department of Nursing atthe University ofWollongong in Australia. Patrick remains a staunchadvocate for evidence-based practice and education and his workas Chair of the Australian and New Zealand Council of Deans ofNursing enables him to play a leading role in the promotion ofboth inter-professional working and practice in education interna-tionally. Patrick and his staff, along with colleagues at the Univer-sity of Western Sydney, University of Newcastle and University ofTechnology Sydney collaborated with the conference organisingteam of NETNEP 2010 and helped to ensure that this was ourmost successful conference to date in terms of number of abstracts,delegates and internationality, as well as the networking andsharing of ideas and knowledge of education in nursing, midwiferyand other health care professions.

The conference, a collaborative initiative between Nurse Educa-tion Today, Nurse Education in Practice and Elsevier, is the outwardexpression of the philosophies of both journals in promoting

1471-5953/$ – see front matter � 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd.doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2010.11.002

evidence-based nursing education as well as international collabo-ration and networking. Our philosophy of working with Universi-ties in the conference host cities and countries has proved to bean excellent model for these goals and we have just begun thediscussions for our next conference which will take place: June17–20, 2012 at the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel in Balti-more, Maryland.

So how has Nurse Education in Practice (NEP) contributed to thescholarship of international nurse education? Not easily deter-mined, although feedback from the NETNEP conference forexample offers some qualitative information on its value in thisarea. In more quantitative terms we can view this through citationsand number of downloaded articles, and although NEP does notcurrently have an impact factor, there are increasingly more quan-titative markers being used by the academic community tomeasure journal rigour, ‘impact’ and ‘influence’.

There is one data set that I see becoming of major importance inthe future, not only for NEP but for all international journals. This isour increasing level of citations and importance as a journal in SCO-PUS, anElsevierdatabase andpartof SciVerse (Elsevier’s product suitefor searchanddiscoveryhttp://www.hub.sciverse.com/action/home).In 2002 we recorded an SJR of 0.042, 11 citations and 47 documentspublished and in 2009 an SJR of 0.049, citations of 348 and 59documents (http://www.info.sciverse.com/scopus/scopus-in-detail/tools/journalanalyzer/). This increasing insight into how and whereNEP articles are both cited and valued has been of immense value inhelping us to understand the development of nursing educationinternationally and I would encourage you to access these sites toundertake your own evaluation. The journal is also now a bi-monthly publication – increasing the frequency by which ourreaders can access research and reviews.

I have to confess of course that I am privileged to be amember ofthe international Content Selection Advisory Board (CSAB) of SCO-PUS and Subject Chair for Nursing/Health Professions journal selec-tion for inclusion in the SCOPUS database. Working with myesteemed international colleagues on the Board has not only givenme an insight into global issues impacting on education generallybut also the current stage of development of nursing, midwiferyand health care professions education in countries where there isnot only political conflict but also conflict about the role of thedifferent health care professions themselves.

In countries such as UK, USA, Australia and European countriessuch as Holland and Finland, we are cushioned in many ways fromcontextual, resource and cultural imperatives which affect the

Editorial / Nurse Education in Practice 11 (2011) 1–32

delivery and development of nursing and midwifery education. Aneditorial by Roxburgh et al. (2009) offered an example of one coun-try’s journey to developing nursing and nurse education in order tobe able to deliver the quality patient care they felt the Rwandanpopulation deserved. Collaboration between countries worldwideis in my view a professional imperative for the development ofthe nursing and midwifery professions and their practice. Aprevious assumption on my part that the countries in the EuropeanUnion had some level of common ground with regards to the prac-tice of educating undergraduate students in practice was thor-oughly challenged in November, when I met colleagues froma number of EU countries involved in a trans-European project onthe role of mentors and implementation and evaluation of a sharedand developed mentorship programme.

The project is led by Dr Mikko Saarikoski, of Turku University ofApplied Health Sciences and the University of Salford, where Iwork part-time as a research fellow, is a collaborating University.The project is called EmpNurs (Empowering the Professionalizationof Nurses troughMentorship (EmpNURS) –http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/eve/alfresco/n/browse/workspace/SpacesStore/5255662a-d68f-11df-8db9-492f3ad71e5e) and along with Turkuand Salford there are 9 other University and/or Health Servicespartners.

The reason I mention this particular project in my reflection onthe first ten years of Nurse Education in Practice, is our taking forgranted that the concept and the application of mentorship androle of the mentor in practice is a shared one, and like other takenfor granted developments, has also been the focus of many interna-tional articles in NEP (e.g. Andrews et al., 2010; Saarikoski et al.,2007). On the one hand however we have countries where mentor-ship does not exist and neither do nurse lecturers/teachers, and intheotherwehavecountries such as theUKwherewehaveanationalimperative on mentorship for pre-registration students in clinicalpractice. Yet there is no body of research evidence, based ona rigorous national evaluation as to whether the current system ofmentorship is the right one for the future of nursing education andpractice in the UK. The paper by Andrews et al. (2010) is a startingpoint, and the authors raise a number of issues on this topic ofmentorship. It is an excellent example where the role of journalssuch as Nurse Education in Practice can make a contribution tonational and international debatesand theevidencebase fornursingeducation.

The future strategic direction of the journal will continue tosupport the publication of quality international papers which influ-ence change in nurse education internationally as well as informthe practice of nurse education in the university and clinical prac-ticum, and encourage and support the development of new authorsto publish their work (http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/623062/description#description).To support this, I would like to revisit the first ever issue of thejournal where we outlined categories for submission of articles,and which are still relevant today:

� Using research evidence in teaching and learning: Researchstudies, literature reviews and developments underpinned byan evidence base-especially where there has been an impacton teaching and learning

� Developing practice through education: Articles that clearlydemonstrate that practice has been developed through educa-tion, including impact on practitioners and services

� Innovations in teaching and learning: Articles which focus on thedevelopment of learning and teaching using new technology(including interactive material for a web-based journal) andcase studies demonstrating local, national and internationalinnovations

� Collaborative education developments: Multi-professional anduni-professional collaboration in education practice, educationresearch and education management

� Scholarship in nursing education and practice: Articles thatdemonstrate an evolving knowledge base underpinning nurseeducation and its practice in any field, including the applicationand value of different philosophies and disciplines in learningand teaching.

In addition to nursing education articles we will bepublishing a Special Issue for Midwifery Education in Practicein 2011/2012 and two experienced midwifery colleagues whoare committed to the development of Midwifery educationhave agreed to co-edit this Special issue: Professor Paul Lewisfrom Bournemouth University, and Sophie French, Head ofMidwifery, Women and Child Health Department at King’sCollege. This is an exciting development for 2011 and the ideafor it was instigated by a group of midwifery academics whoapproached us at NET 2009 in Cambridge and who felt thatdue to competing challenges with midwifery practice thateducation developments and innovations were not always givenenough space for discussion. We are grateful to them and othermidwifery colleagues that we have discussed this with since, forhaving an opportunity to ‘showcase’ international midwiferyeducation in practice.

I look forward tomy continuing role as editor and the challengesahead in developing the journal for the future. This will entailworking closely with the Editorial Board members of the journal,to whom I wish to express my thanks for their continued supportand their contribution to the journal’s ongoing development. TheInternational Advisory Board has had a significant role over thisfirst ten years in both their role as reviewers and as promoters ofthe journal internationally and I would like to thank them for thisrole. I am especially looking forward to working with the newEditor of Nurse Education Today, Professor William Lauder fromStirling University who shares similar ideas on the value and impor-tance of evidence-based nursing education. I would like to expressmy thanks to the outgoing Editor of NET, Professor Martin Johnsonfor his continued professional support over the past 8 years andwish him well for the future.

There are key colleagues however that the journal could notfunction without and my special thanks goes to these .One groupbeing the excellent reviewers that this journal is fortunate towork with and without whom I would be unable to offer authorssuch excellent feedback and contribution to their scholarship. Theothers are my Associate Publishing Editor Sarah Davies and thejournal Editorial Manager, Jill Tyldsley. I am indebted to Sarahfor continuing the excellent support and guidance that hadbeen given to me by her predecessor Melanie Burton but alsofor her invaluable ideas and insight into new possibilities forthe future and her unique sense of humour! Last but never leastis my opportunity to thank publicly Jill Tyldsley, who not onlymanages the whole electronic editorial process for this journalbut also Nurse Education Today, and offers not only guidanceand support on the management of the journal but is also theinvaluable interface between the editor, the authors and thereviewers.

In reading this reflective editorial on this first ten years of thejournal I am drawn to some overarching themes throughout,namely communication with peers and colleagues worldwide,sharing of best practice through publication of articles and howregardless of different international boundaries and contexts thereis an overwhelming commitment to the betterment of nursingeducation for and in practice. I look forward to continuing to leadthe development and publication of the journal for the foreseeable

Editorial / Nurse Education in Practice 11 (2011) 1–3 3

future and look forward to working and collaborating with you asreaders, reviewers and authors. Thank you all for your continuedsupport of Nurse Education in Practice.

References

Andrews, M., Brewer, M., Buchan, T., Denne, A., et al., 2010. Implementation andsustainability of the nursing and midwifery standards for mentoring in theUK. Nurse Education in Practice 10, 251–255.

Roxburgh, M., Taylor, J., Murebwayire, M., 2009. Rwanda: a thousand hills,a thousand dreams, a thousand challenges for nurses and midwives andthe Millennium Development Goals. Nurse Education in Practice 9,349–350.

Saarikoski, M., Marrow, C., Abreu, W., Riklikiene Özbicakçi, S., 2007. Student nurses’experience of supervision and Mentorship in clinical practice: a cross culturalperspective. Nurse Education in Practice 7 (6), 407–415.

Karen Holland

E-mail address: karen.holland3@sky.com