In 2001, my dear friend and colleague Nessa Coyle and I edited the first edition of the Textbook of Palliative Nursing published by Oxford University Press. One of our physician colleagues, Dr Kathy Foley, told us at the time that publishing such a book was an important achievement as it established that a body of evidence was available in a field. A textbook for a new field is a statement of the importance of the field, which has come of age.
This month, another important contribution has occurred in the publication of the Textbook of Advanced Practice Palliative Nursing (Oxford University Press, 2016). The lead editors are 2 real pioneers of this field, Connie Dahlin, APRN-BC, ACHPN, FPCN, FAAN, and Patrick J. Coyne, MSN, ACHPN, ACNS-BC, FAAN, FPCN. I have had the privilege of joining them as the third editor, essentially offering editorial advice and riding on their coattails for this remarkable journey to see this work come to be. The book includes 62 chapters written by 92 nurses, thus representing a real village of collective wisdom.
A book truly represents blood, sweat, and tears. It is a labor of love. And so I salute Connie and Patrick, because in editing this book they make us all proud. All palliative care nurses, and especially advanced practice palliative care nurses, should be sending forward a collective "Thank you!" because their vision, countless hours of editing, and belief in our profession make an important statement for our field.
Connie is an advanced practice nurse with more than 20 years of extensive palliative care administrative, clinical, and academic experience. She is prepared as an oncology clinical nurse specialist and a nurse practitioner in palliative care and adult primary care. She cofounded one of the pioneer palliative care services at Massachusetts General Hospital where she was also codirector of the outpatient palliative care service. Currently, Connie is the director of professional practice at the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association. Her clinical practice is as a palliative nurse practitioner at the North Shore Medical Center in Massachusetts. She was the editor for the second and third editions of the National Consensus Project Clinical Practice Guidelines for Palliative Care and past president and board member of the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association.
Patrick is a clinical nurse specialist, assistant professor, and director for palliative care at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Prior to this position, he was a clinical nurse specialist for palliative care/pain management at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond for 24 years, where he was the clinical director for the Thomas Palliative Care Program, one of the Robert Wood Johnson national palliative care leadership sites. He has published more than a hundred articles related to pain management, symptom control, and issues in end-stage disease, as well as conducting research studies. He was named one of the 30 Visionaries in the field by the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine in 2013.
Both Connie and Patrick have not only pioneered the field of advanced practice in palliative nursing, but also they live the daily work in clinical settings, expertly caring for patients and families. And now-they have edited this first edition Textbook of Advanced Practice Palliative Nursing!
But to write that book, Connie and Patrick needed evidence, models, tools, and examples of advanced practice. And where do those come from? JOURNALS! Yes, journals, including the Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing. So add to that shout-out of thanks to all the nurses who have published their work in Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing and all journals. Your work as expert authors are the building blocks that created the foundation of this textbook to solidify the role of advanced practice nursing in the field of palliative care, our field that is monumentally important in the future of health care.
This issue of the journal includes 10 outstanding articles addressing some of the most important issues facing patients and families. I have a feeling they will be cited in the second edition of the textbook.
Betty Ferrell, PhD, MA, FAAN, FPCN, CHPN
Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]