E.D.'s Notes, The

Alabama Nurse, Sep-Nov 2003

I want to take a few lines to let you know about a few changes in the coming issues of the Alabama Nurse. The Alabama Nurse is the official publication of the Alabama State Nurses Association. It is our plan to have this publication address issues concerning nurses and nursing. We also want to use it to share what nurses across the state are doing, and for this we need your help. With this issue of the Alabama Nurse, and through convention 2004, we plan to publish articles from members and/or readers of the Alabama Nurse.

The topics for these articles will be about nursing. Some suggestions are "Why I Became a Nurse," "Why I Remain in Nursing," or "What Nursing Means to Me." Feel free to add other titles, as long as they address nurses or nursing. Each and every one of you is invited to submit your story. The article should be one to two typewritten pages. If possible, email it to us here at the ASNA office by 4 November 2003, 4 February 2004, 6 May 2004, or 5 August 2004. If you don't have email, a hard copy will do. I have started us off by writing my own story, and I challenge the other 67,000 nurses in this State to do the same.

Another addition to the Alabama Nurse will be District News, so by all means, let us hear about what is going on in each of our 11 Districts. Not just meetings, but events as well. Also, if you have pictures of any events in your District, please include them. Be sure to identify the people in the photos.

One more change that we want to try is Letters to the Editor section. Let us hear from you. Suggestions, comments, venting (within reason), or concerns will be welcome. This is your publication so please share with me any constructive critiques.

The book review column will continue as long as we have volunteers to read them and write a short review. Here again, if you have read a new book and want to recommend it or not recommend it to others, please send it on to us. This in no way means we are endorsing a particular book or author.

ASNA 2003 Convention in September will mark the beginning of our yearlong celebration of 90 years as an association, we want to Celebrate the Past, but unquestionably we want to Create our Future. A future that we hope will take the nursing profession and Alabama State Nurses Association to even greater heights.