Volume 45 Number 1

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” William Arthur Ward.

This issue marks the final story from the WCET^® Biennial Congress, held in Glasgow, in conjunction with our colleagues, the Association of Stoma Care Nurses, United Kingdom (ASCN UK). Although we have all been involved in organising conferences previously, we didn’t have a full sense of what it takes to run a congress after the implementation of the MedTec rules and what to expect after the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2019. It was the first time for us to come together as a group and have the full responsibility for monitoring this global event. For example keynote speakers were identified initially when we were planning the meeting to be held in 2020, many sponsors had already signed up to support the event. The journey has not always been easy or stressless, especially when coming close to D day, but it all proved to be worth it. Thank you to everyone for all the hard outstanding work done with a special note to Dr Pamela Cipriano, International Council of Nurses, for her recorded welcome remarks contributing to make this event memorable.^1,2

After having held this very successful Congress, it is time to celebrate the 45th anniversary of our journal. Another member resource voted the best by our membership over the years, the only journal to be professionally translated into four languages other than English (Chinese, Spanish, French and Portuguese) — thanks to Coloplast China for the Chinese translation and to Calmoseptine^® for the Portuguese and Spanish. This is a good opportunity to remind you all that all electronic versions of the journal are now available as free access, it is indexed with Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Embase, InfoRMIT Health and EBSCO. We are continuing to work hard to increase its indexing scope and power.

As always, following our Congress, we just have initiated a new four year term Executive Board (EB). We welcomed Dr Angela Boccara as our new Education Chairperson, Dr Katie Capitulo as Norma N Gill Foundation^® Chairperson and Fiona Bolton as Treasurer who was appointed prior to Congress.

As keeping history alive is important, we have decided to create a new website page honouring our past awardees of the WCET^® President’s award under the Membership tab: https://wcetn.org/page/PresidentsAward. This is another way to celebrate them.

This year will mark the call for nomination and the election of the upcoming new President Elect (2026–2030). So please stay tuned for our upcoming communication about this, our aim is to name the incoming President Elect by this September so that she/he can join the EB as a non-voting member, allowing them to be introduced into this important executive position. Let us remind you all that when we elect a President Elect, this individual will automatically become WCET^® President (2030–2034) after her/his term, making it an eight year commitment.

As you may know, in less than a year, we will run our next WCET^® Biennial Congress, it will be a joint congress with our colleagues from Nurses Specialised in Wound Ostomy and Continence Canada (NSWOCC), from 24–28 April 2026 in Vancouver, Canada. It will be the WCET^® 25th Biennial Congress, and the 45th annual Conference for NSWOCC, which is a lot to celebrate.

Both organisations have started to work on this upcoming event. After preliminary discussions held prior to and during 2024 Congress, formal tasks have already been allocated.

The 2026 Scientific and Organising/Planning committee has been identified with representatives from the two organisations. The budget has been accepted, important deadline dates have been determined and educational/ scientific content is in process. You will find more in the advert in this issue of the Journal.

This year, as in previous years, will be an opportunity to let WCET^® shine across the globe. We will represent you, if all goes to plan, in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Malaysia and Turkey. Others may be added to the plan if possible. We will take the opportunity to attend the upcoming Asia Pacific Enterostomal Therapist Nurses Association (APETNA) Conference, and at the same time continue our work on the 3rd edition of the WCET^® International Ostomy Guideline (IOG), led by our methodologist for the edition, Dr Emily Haesler. Please stay tuned for more information and invitations to contribute, assess and comment on the updated statements and other content. As you may remember, the first edition of the guidelines published cultural content from 10 countries, the second edition included content from 22 countries, and we count on you to outdo yourselves in the 3rd edition. This aspect of our guidelines makes them unique and relevant to daily practice when dealing with patients who all have a range of cultural, social and/or religious beliefs. Once again many thanks to Hollister for supporting this meaningful work.

We take this opportunity to deeply appreciate Karen Bruton, past Constitution Advisory Panel (CAP) member and past Publications & Communications Chairperson, for her commitment and voluntary work on behalf of WCET^® over the years. She has decided to step down from the CAP, Irma Arisanty from Indonesia has accepted and invitation to join the panel. Please join us in welcoming her into this important position and thank her in advance for her involvement.

This year will also mark the introduction of electronic voting on the proposal to raise WCET^® membership fees in order to continue our worldwide mission.

Please stay tuned in for future WCET^® Journal News and Views and BullETin content, as they will keep you updated on the voting results.

Many thanks in advance for supporting Norma’s vision. We also thank all WCET^® past presidents, executive board, committee and panel members, international delegates and members, for their volunteer work done over many years. We encourage you to continue to make personal and association donations in support of this mission. Another great opportunity to celebrate.

And to quote Frances Moore Lappe: “Every choice we make can be a celebration of the world we want.”

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

References

1. WCET^® BullETin 2024, 21(3):13–43.
2. World Council of Enterostomal Therapists^®. Selected abstracts from the 24^th Biennial WCET^® Congress in Glasgow, UK. WCET^® Journal 2024; 44(4):39–47.