I am so very honored to be serving as the new Editor-in-Chief of Plastic Surgical Nursing (PSN), the official journal of ISPAN. I understand how important this journal is to the plastic and aesthetic nursing community. Throughout my career, I have looked to PSN to gain new insights and information about clinical procedures, become acquainted with research in the field, and discover innovative techniques to improve my practice. I recognize the value of PSN as a resource for plastic and aesthetic nurses practicing in both inpatient and outpatient settings.
Tracey Hotta, BScN, RN, CPSN, CANS, LNC, ISPAN-F, has faithfully served as Editor-in-Chief of PSN since 2011, and while I am thrilled to accept the role of Editor-in-Chief of this prestigious journal, I recognize that Tracey has left some very big shoes to fill! She leaves behind a legacy of excellence and an example of diligent commitment to maintaining the high standards and professionalism of the PSN journal. From the moment I began to consider taking on this important role, Tracey has been a phenomenal source of encouragement and support. According to Benner (Benner 1984; Benner, Sutphen, Leonard, & Day, 2010), with each new leadership role a nurse takes on, there is a period of novice learning, and although the novice nurse brings unique knowledge, skills, and competence to the role, there are moments when the novice nurse is extremely grateful for the mentorship of the former nurse leader. I am enormously thankful for Tracey's guidance during this transitional period. I also understand that no successful or effective journal editors work in isolation; they are dependent upon the skilled and talented individuals who contribute to the journal on a daily basis. To that end, I recognize and appreciate the contributions of the PSN editorial board, Wolters Kluwer Health PSN journal team, and PSN advertisers, authors, and peer reviewers without whom this journal could not exist.
I believe my professional experience has prepared me for this position. I was a perioperative nurse with an emphasis in plastic and reconstructive surgery for more than 44 years. I have worked in all facets of the perioperative environment from scrub person to director. I am a PhD in Nursing candidate with the University of Missouri and hope to graduate in May 2019. I have earned certification in operating room nursing (CNOR), as an emeritus RN first assistant (CRNFA[E]), as a retired plastic and reconstructive surgical nurse (CPSN-R), and as a legal nurse consultant (PLNC). In 2017, I received the honor of being inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN), and in 2018, I was inducted as an ISPAN fellow.
In my former position as a Senior Perioperative Practice Specialist with the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN), I provided consultative services, authored AORN publications including the AORN Guidelines for Perioperative Practice (2018) and Clinical Issues columns in the AORN Journal, and represented AORN with other professional and regulatory organizations. I have also been a member of the nursing faculty at Middle Tennessee State University and the University of Phoenix.
Currently, in addition to my work as Editor-in-Chief for PSN, I serve as a clinical consultant, peer reviewer, clinical editor, author, and presenter for a variety of perioperative educational products, presentations, and publications. My work as a legal expert witness involves reading and reviewing medical records and testifying as to the standard of perioperative nursing care.
I have been a member of ISPAN for many years. As a member of the ISPAN Clinical Practice Committee, I have been intimately involved in drafting the ISPAN position statements (http://ispan.org/position-statements.cgi). As a member of the ISPAN Scope and Standards Committee, I participated in revising and developing the updated Scope and Standards of Practice for Plastic and Aesthetic Nurses (ISPAN/ANA, in press). I have also revised and edited chapters of the fourth (ASPSN, 2015) and fifth (ISPAN, in press) editions of the Core Curriculum for Plastic Surgical Nursing.
As the official journal of the ISPAN, PSN presents the latest evidence and advances in aesthetic and plastic nursing practice, covering a wide variety of procedures. In addition to providing relevant continuing education for plastic and aesthetic nurses, PSN disseminates the findings of pertinent research studies, presents articles addressing patient education techniques, and provides avenues for discussing the ethical issues and trends in this expanding clinical nursing specialty. This issue includes a continuing education article explaining the ethical challenges with nonsurgical medical aesthetic devices (Hagopian, 2019), a study investigating the use of endonasal infiltrative anesthesia for nasal fracture reduction (Perez-Garcia et al., 2019), and a case study illustrating the use of an enzymatic debridement agent for burn treatment (Salmeron-Gonzalez, Garcia-Vilarino, Perez-del-Caz, Sanchez-Garcia, & Valverde-Navarro, 2019).
Looking forward, my goal as Editor-in-Chief of PSN is to do all that I can do to ensure our journal is of the highest quality and provides plastic and aesthetic nurses with the information they need to practice with excellence. I am excited about the future of PSN, and I feel very proud and privileged to have the opportunity to participate in moving our journal forward.
Respectfully,
Sharon VW
REFERENCES