In 1996, as a young(ish) freelancer who had left publishing to run “writing for publication” workshops for nurses, I was invited to present to a group of diabetes facilitators who seemed indignant that no journal existed that specifically targeted nurses working in diabetes. Encouraged by their enthusiasm and buoyed by a ridiculous level of self-importance, I promised them I’d create a publication with their name on it. How could someone based in an office in his old bedroom (soon to expand into his sister’s bedroom), with one recently acquired assistant, the wonderful Sophie Perks, and no sales experience possibly fail?
Much to mine and others’ surprise, the Journal of Diabetes Nursing was born to joyful parents in April 1997. Sophie and I inserted and posted every one of the 800 copies that we proudly sent to all registered DSNs in the UK. Uncertain how best to nurture our offspring, we assembled an editorial board of respected nurses who were happy to embark on a journey of education, not only of the journal’s target audience but also of its naïve but enthusiastic creators. One of those board members was Debbie Hicks, at the time a DSN in Hull.
Debbie’s reputation as an excellent clinician and manager was soon to be supplemented by that of respected writer, speaker and powerful advocate for all things diabetes nursing related on a national and international stage. So it was that following excellent stints as journal editor first from Elizabeth Gledhill and then the enigmatic Maggie Watkinson, Debbie accepted our invitation to take on the mantle of Editor-in-Chief in 2007. Immersed in the clinical, political and educational aspects of diabetes care, she shared with our audience not only her extensive practical experience of diabetes management but also her own infectious desire for nurses to stand up and be counted on both a clinical and political platform – all communications being delivered with readily accessible and down-to-earth realism.
My wholehearted thanks go to Debbie for the marvellous job she has done on the journal for a decade, particularly for the way she seamlessly managed the publication’s transformation from a specialist secondary care vehicle to one that recognises the contribution and requirements of all nurses delivering diabetes care, wherever they may be based.
However, at a time when we are shortly to embrace change by introducing a fresh format on a new digital platform, you will also see that the editorial baton is also about to be handed on. The willing recipient is Su Down, Diabetes Nurse Consultant in Somerset, who will be taking over from Debbie as Editor-in-Chief from January 2018. As well as redesigning the diabetes services across Somerset, Su is co-vice president of the PCDS (Primary Care Diabetes Society) committee and has published in the journal on a multitude of topics. Su’s first editorship role will be to oversee the transformation from a paper-based publication to an e-journal online.
While many of us are loathe to wave goodbye to paper, there comes a time when it is difficult to buck the trend that has swept the healthcare market. In addition, there are so many advantages to publishing content online: greater flexibility and timeliness; the opportunity to link directly to associated content; and the chance to refer to previous issues as reference. And for those of you who detest reading text on screen, there will be pdfs available allowing you to print off individual articles as and when preferred.
These are exciting times and we hope the change in format will not damage your involvement in or appreciation of an information source that stems back more than 20 years. Thank you to all those who have made the journey possible, particularly to Debbie for her direction and leadership from 2007 and to Su for agreeing to take up the cause in 2018: a new face and a new format but the same trusted resource.
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