Volume 43 Number 2

“For the sick, it is important to have the best.”
                                          Florence Nightingale

This is a time to celebrate! In May, we celebrated the 45^th anniversary of the WCET^® and International Nurses Day (May 12^th), and on the 26^th of June we celebrate the birthday of Norma N Gill, our pioneer. Norma was not only our first WCET^® President but also the first WCET^® Journal Editor. Therefore, it is the perfect time to focus our joint message on the WCET^® Journal, our Journal Editor, our Journal Editor Emeritus, all Editorial Board members, our Publisher, Cambridge Media, and of course our community of peer review experts.

We thank you all for a job well done, for your comments and for your ongoing support of authors in the process of allowing a manuscript to finally become a relevant published article. Having a diverse group of peer reviewers from different countries, professions and practice settings enriches the feed-back and increases the quality of the publication. To echo Aristotle, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”.

The high quality of articles published facilitates clinicians to learn, adapt and transfer this knowledge and experience into practice, so improving patient care and outcomes.

Many thanks to our Journal Editor, Dr Jenny Prentice, who has the difficult task of gathering all the comments from peer reviewers, compiling them into constructive feedback for authors, in a way that encourages them to consider the feedback to improve their submission. This is not an easy job as each author behind each manuscript has their own background, opinion, expectation, and desire to be published.

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Dr Elizabeth A Ayello, WCET^® Immediate Past President and WCET^® Journal Editor Emeritus, for being awarded the 2023 Margaret Comerford Freda Award for Editorial Leadership in Nursing. This award comes from the International Academy of Nursing Editors (INANE, https://nursingeditors.com), the award ceremony will be in August in Dublin, Ireland. We are very proud of our past President Dr Elizabeth A Ayello and feel very lucky to have benefited from her many years of editorial, knowledge, skill and experience. We are sure it will not be the last recognition Elizabeth will receive.

I (Laurent) have been a peer reviewer for more than 3 years now. I love to blind review the work of others, to read their research question, the methodology and the outcomes. It has allowed me to read, without bias as an outsider, to put forward my own personal perspective, to point out some relevant considerations or to comment, to do my best to help the author improve the quality of the paper before publication. I also learn a great deal as the authors bring new content or perspective and novel ways to deal with situations, sometimes challenging the way I think and inviting me to move from my comfort zone and make changes in practice.

As a peer reviewer you do not see other peer reviewers’ comments on a manuscript unless you are asked to peer review the same manuscript again after changes have been made. This can also be very educational.

As readers, we only see the result of this hidden work, which takes time to achieve.

So, we take this opportunity to thank all of you who have provided manuscripts, or who are considering doing so, we need you to keep us up-to-date and knowledgeable from a global perspective. According to our members the WCET^® Journal is one of the top membership benefits appreciated by all. The survival and quality of the WCET^® Journal relies on you, we look forward to receiving your scientific endeavours.

As authors, when submitting a manuscript, we are always anxious about how long it will take to get published, or even if it will be accepted or rejected. To have an article published as quickly as possible it is important to make yourself aware of the WCET^® Journals Author Guidelines before commencing your article as different journals have different guidelines. Before submitting your article for publication, check that the author guidelines have been adhered to. This is particularly important for formatting of references and sending of digital images. Further, to promptly provide answers to reviewer’s questions and feedback. Having your article or scientific work peer reviewed, validated by your peers and published is a wonderful and gratifying feeling and is crucial to improving knowledge and awareness.

Over these last months we have been invited to review and comment on different articles from different journals, to make recommendations for books or glossary of terms, such as:

• The Nurses Specialised in Wounds, Ostomy and Continence Canada (NSWOCC) Canadian Urinary Diversion Position Statement, done in collaboration with the Canadian Urological Association: https://www.nswoc.ca/_files/ugd/9d080f_1d03fe28d 93743ac9af21e2f0c89d186.pdf.
• The NSWOCC Parastomal Hernia Prevention, Assessment, and Management: Canadian Best Practice Recommendations.
• The Best Practice in Wound Care : from Novice to Expert (“Pratiques exemplaires en soins des plaies : de novice à expert»), divided in 2 volumes, published at the Laval University Press (“Presse de l’Université de Laval”). A reference for the French speaking healthcare professionals.
• The World Union of Wound Healing Societies (WUWHS) International Wound Care Glossary for the International Council for the Harmonisation of Wound Care Terminology (ICHWCT).
• The peristomal care chapter for an update of the Wound Care book (“Le précis des plaies”) from the Swiss Association for Woundcare (SAfW) – Romande (French speaking) section.

We also want to take the opportunity to warmly thank our colleagues, Maddie White and Angie Perrin (Eds) and all ASCN UK contributors, for their book: “Stoma Care Specialist Nursing: a guide for Clinical Practice”. Springer Publication.

On behalf of our patients and nursing community we congratulate you and thank you for the hard work done, for your contributions and recommendations and for the speedy implementation of current evidence into best nursing practice. In addition, for helping foster common language usage in wound skin ostomy and continence care globally.

WCET^® could not be prouder of you all, you all contribute to provide patients with the best care!

Sincerely
Laurent and Denise

Author(s)

Laurent O Chabal
BSc (CBP), RN, OncPall (Cert), Dip (WH), ET, EAWT
WCET^® President 2022–2026

Denise Hibbert
MSc-WHTR, RGN, BSc, DipHE, ONC, STN, FSSCRS
WCET^® President Elect 2022–2026