December 2005 | January 2006 AWHONN Lifelines 441

tThis issue will reach you as we go into

2006, which marks the beginning of the

10th anniversary of AWHONN Lifelines.

This is an auspicious occasion for the

journal, the people who are involved in

bringing it to you, and for AWHONN

too. Like many of you, I have the com-

plete collection of this journal sitting on

my bookshelf. When it first started arriv-

ing in my mailbox, I had no idea that one

day my photo would grace this page and

that I would live, eat, sleep and breathe the

minutiae of editing a nursing journal.

What I noticed from those early issues was

that the journal was visually appealing and

contained information that I found profession-

ally and personally valuable. Some of the

copies still have yellow stickies protruding from

the pages, articles that I have marked to pass

on to students and colleagues. Others are a lit-

tle ragged; I carried them with me on airplanes

or car trips and read their content in mundane

places or exotic locales. Others are a little

dusty; they sat in my bathroom for months

and were read by anyone spending a few min-

utes or more in the peace and quiet that only

that room affords a busy parent. I have heard

that story many times from AWHONN

members at the annual convention: “I love

Lifelines. . . but the only chance I get to read it

is in the bathroom!” (spoken in a whisper).

I attended the annual meeting of the Inter-

national Academy of Nursing Editors in the

summer of 2005. This group is composed of

editors of nursing journals, and approximately

100 of us meet each summer. We talk about

hot topics in the publishing world, and we

share our experiences with each other in a sup-

portive and noncompetitive manner. Each of

us brings copies of our journal to display and

Dr. Anne Katz, PhD,RN, is a clinical nursespecialist at theProstate Centre ofCancerCare Manitobain Winnipeg.

LookingBack&

LookingForwardAnne Katz, PhD, RN

442 AWHONN Lifelines Volume 9 Issue 6

make available to others to take home. I was

proud to see Lifelines there among all other

journals and even prouder to see a number of

copies going home in the bags of my fellow

editors. As a relatively new editor of a relatively

new journal, I listened to the words of my

peers, some of whom have been with their

journals for over 25 years. I have a lot to learn

from them, but I am also proud of the fact that

Lifelines has the capability of making changes

that reflect the needs of our readership and our

profession. In my brief two and a half years

with this journal, the editorial staff and adviso-

ry board have made some changes and will

continue to strive to present you with the

cutting-edge information you need to do your

jobs well and to provide the best possible care

to women, babies and families across the life

span.

So what can you expect within the next six

issues? You will notice some visual changes that

we are incorporating especially for the anniver-

sary issue. We will be asking you for your

memories and will reward those who send in

comments that we publish on our pages. Tell us

what nursing was like 10 years ago, and what it

may be like 10 years from now, and we'll

reward your efforts if we publish your thoughts

with a Lifelines-logo’d USB flash drive (memo-

ry stick). You will hear from people who were

involved in the journal in the early days. Each

issue will feature a roundtable of experts dis-

cussing cutting-edge nursing topics that will

inform and educate. We will think back over

the past 10 years as well as project forward into

the future. I hope that you will look forward to

these next six issues with the same anticipation

that I do. I anticipate that you will give me

feedback at the Lifelines booth next summer at

the annual convention. We hope to inspire you

to be the best nurses that you can be, based on

what you were before and what you can yet be.