Volume 43 Number 2

International excellence awards for WCET^® member Elizabeth Ayello

Two significant international awards were bestowed upon Immediate Past President and Executive Editor Emeritus Dr Elizabeth A Ayello in April 2023.

At the 35th Annual NPIAP Meeting, The NPIAP JoAnn Maklebust Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Elizabeth A Ayello, PhD, MS, BSN, ETN, RN, CWON, MAPWCA, FAAN. Named in honour and in memory of NPIAP Alumna JoAnn Maklebust, this award is presented to an individual who has made significant contributions to the NPIAP and to preventing and treating pressure injuries.

WCET^® member Barbara Delmore said at the presentation, “Throughout the USA and internationally, Dr Ayello is an outstanding leader regarding skin and wounds, especially pressure injuries. Elizabeth has a litany of significant contributions as she is an internationally known editor, prolific author, researcher and educator. Dr Ayello has over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles and is co-author/co-editor of two wound care books, including the award-winning book, Wound Care Essentials Practice Principles. She has undoubtedly made an impressionable mark within the world of skin and wound care, touching many through her unwavering and professional commitment.”

Also in April it was announced that the International Academy of Nursing Editors’ highest honour, The Margaret Comerford Freda Award for Editorial Leadership in Nursing Publication, was to be bestowed on Dr Ayello.

The announcement read, “The International Academy of Nursing Editors (INANE) is pleased to announce that Elizabeth A Ayello, PhD, MS, BSN, ETN, RN, CWON, MAPWCA, FAAN, is the 11th recipient of the Margaret Comerford Freda Award for Editorial Leadership in Nursing Publication. The award will be presented to Dr Ayello at the annual meeting of INANE, which will be held in Dublin, Ireland in July 2023.

Dr Ayello is currently the Editor-in-Chief with R Gary Sibbald MD of Advances in Skin and Wound Care, an international interprofessional journal published by Wolters Kluwer. She is the Executive Editor Emeritus for the WCET® Journal published in five languages by Cambridge Media and is the Immediate Past President of the World Council of Enterostomal Therapists^® (WCET^®). Dr Ayello is Co-Author and Co-Editor with Sharon Baranoski of the 5th edition of Wound Care Essentials: Practice Principles, published by Wolters Kluwer as well as three WCET^® ostomy books (in several languages) and the two editions of the WCET^® International Ostomy Guideline published in English and Chinese. She is also on the Editorial Board of Nursing 2023.”

“We are delighted to present Dr Ayello with the MCF Award this year,” says Julia Snethen, PhD, RN, FAAN, Chair of the Award Selection Committee. “Dr Ayello is well-known for her mentorship, leadership and support of her international colleagues. She was a transformative leader for the WCET^® Journal and remains active on its Editorial Board.” When notified of the award, Dr Ayello said, “I am so honoured to receive this award as I knew Margaret Comerford Freda. She was a mentor to me. To have my name associated with this award named for her is beyond my wildest dreams. Thank you so very much.”

Immediately following the award presentation, Dr. Ayello will present the Margaret Comerford Freda Leadership Address to all conference attendees.

Update on International Skin Tear Advisory Panel (ISTAP)

I’m pleased to have the opportunity to provide an update on ISTAPs activities and achievements over the last 12 months. ISTAP continues to grow from strength to strength and our position as a truly international organisation is reflected in the profile of our Board of Directors, our members as well as our international official partners.

A notable achievement is the publication of a special issue of the Journal of Wound Management published in July 2022 (https://ewma.org/what-we-do/jowm/special-issue-july-2022-vol-23-2). This publication has strengthened the reach of ISTAP and helped to raise further awareness of the prediction, assessment, prevention and treatment of skin tears. We’re pleased that the European Wound Management Association (EWMA) has chosen to continue the Skin Tear project and we hope to have more news about our plans later this year.

In December 2022 we launched the inaugural ISTAP Presidents Award which is a biennial honour bestowed on someone who has provided an outstanding contribution to ISTAP’s mission and vision of a world without skin tears. We were delighted to be able to award this to WCET member Sharon Baranoski for her significant work in this area. You can read more about Sharon’s contributions here: https://www.skintears.org/post/announcing-the-inaugural-istap-president-s-award-recipient.

The work of ISTAP would not be possible without the support of our workstreams which include: Collaboration & Partnerships, Global Community Engagement, Research & Implementation and Education. We now have 19 International Partners, which provide opportunities to work together on projects and educational events throughout the year. Our partnership with WCET is important as it provides a very good opportunity for collaborating on future projects.

One of our main activities each year is the ‘World Without Skin Tears Day’ which is now well established in our calendar of events. This year it took place on the 27 April, 2023 and featured a programme of truly international speakers from our current partners and our wider external stakeholders. You can view a recording of the event here: https://www.skintears.org/wwstd2023. The event included 500 attendees on the day and over 1900 individuals registered in total. The event would not have been possible without the input of our Education Workstream, which co-ordinated the programme and the speakers. Planning for our event in 2024 is already underway and we’ll be pleased to share information about that later in the year.

We have more educational activities throughout June and July, including a Wounds International online event which our Regional Director for Australia and New Zealand, and WCET^® Editor, Jenny Prentice, is taking part in. Jenny will be joined by Dr Jay Shah, Dr Ray Samuriwo and Steven Smet who will all discuss the topic of Skin Health: Clinical and Cultural Perspectives from their individual regions; Australasia, America’s and Europe respectively. You can find more information here: https://events.woundsinternational.com/. We’ve also been invited to take part in Wounds Week in July (https://www.woundsweek.com/#/). Later in the year ISTAP will have representation at the Wounds UK conference in Harrogate in November 2023 and planning is underway for a Focus Session and Workshop for EWMA in London, UK from the 1-3 May 2024.

I am very proud to be the current ISTAP President and would like to acknowledge all the Executive Team and Board of Directors in their sustained work and commitment to ensuring the continued success of our organisation. This success is reflected in ISTAP  receiving a silver certificate in the Journal of Wound Care awards within the category for ‘Most Progressive Society’. We were delighted with this achievement and will continue to build on this moving forward.

If you’re not already a member of ISTAP I would encourage you to join so that you can receive our quarterly communiqué as well as up-to-date information throughout the year.

Samantha Holloway
ISTAP President