Dear colleagues,
As the Australian Vascular Access Society (AVAS) begins its first official year, and as its founding president, I wish to welcome you on behalf of the Board and Executive members. Since its inception in 2009, AVAS has made steady progress in regard to its establishment as a professional body and organisation for clinicians working in or with vascular access and its associated devices.
AVAS has taken some time to establish a voluntary Board of Directors and State Executive, which culminated in the early development of societal by-laws and a binding legal constitution. In taking these steps, we have begun to establish the foundations of a solidly built professional organisation, along with the help of The Association Specialists, who have provided the society with full support and a framework structure to help build a robust and stable professional environment.
The AVAS mission is to promote and improve patient safety and clinical outcomes as well as develop a standard of excellence in the field of vascular access by promoting the development of national standards of practice, providing professional development and quality education, developing and sharing best practices and promote ongoing research within the vascular access realm.
We are also pleased to announce the release of VASCULAR ACCESS, the peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary, official eJournal of AVAS. VASCULAR ACCESS accepts original articles from authors across a wide-ranging field and utilises the latest app technology to present everything relating to vascular access in the most modern and dynamic platform available. The eJournal is available in popular platforms for Apple™, Android™ and PC/Mac configurations.
AVAS also has an affiliation with the European Journal of Vascular Access (JVA), in the form of its digital online access to all AVAS members. JVA has become the most authoritative journal in the field of vascular access and dialysis, thanks to the outstanding editorship of Dr Maurizio Gallieni and to the numerous European and American scientific societies that are affiliated. We look forward to the collaboration between JVA and AVAS to make membership more interesting for our AVAS members.
As we enter the first half of 2015 and our first AGM and educational offering, I would like to thank our AVAS Board and Executive, respective committee members, as well as The Association Specialists and Cambridge Media for their ongoing help and assistance in helping establish AVAS as the leading society in vascular access. It has been a long road, but the benefits are now starting to show.
As the outgoing president, I wish the incoming president Samantha Keogh, and the new Board members all the best in their roles and look forward to working with the Board, the Executive, and with you, our members, to strengthen AVAS to make this a productive and stimulating professional organisation for vascular access science.
Tim Spencer
Author(s)
Tim Spencer RN, APN, DipAppSci, Bach.Health, ICCert, VA-BC Founding President of AVAS (2009–2015)