I listened to nurses speaking with infectious enthusiasm about innovations they led or shaped that are making a difference to their practice and patients. Some of their stories are shared in this edition and others are to come.
I also listened to nurses challenging the status quo and questioning accepted truisms, such as how come training for the ‘caring profession’ by the ‘caring profession’ sees nursing students’ empathy levels decline and not increase? Is yet another tick-box care plan a useful addition to your nursing toolbox or a direct insult to your professional judgment as a nurse?
And is nursing in danger of becoming extinct and being replaced by generic health workers who will do the work that was once the domain of nurses?
It’s all stimulating stuff to wake me out of my winter lethargy and provide topics for many articles to come.
One of the nicest compliments I’ve ever received as editor of Nursing Review – shared over the teacups at another conference – was when a reader described opening up her copy of Nursing Review as like going to a good conference. So I’m hoping that in this edition everyone finds at least one article to give them an added spring to their step, as these two conferences have for me.
