As we start a new year it is timely to reflect on our successes in 2015. I have now been editor of Evidence Based Nursing (EBN) for over five years and during that time we have made a number of changes all of which are designed to help nurses and midwives implement evidence into practice more easily. So what are the highlights of 2015?
Lobbying
I am particularly excited about the lobbying EBN has managed to do on two key issues this year. Our Twitter Chat on 20th May about the implications of the Shape of Caring Review for children’s nursing and the subsequent EBN Opinion piece were used as evidence of the views of the profession when lobbying key decision makers. A summary of this Twitter Chat can be seen at: http://bit.ly/1R9oljW.
In the run up to the Assisted Dying Bill being read in the House of Commons in September we published a guest editorial by Dr Robert Twycross reflecting on some of the reasons legalising assisted dying would not be a good thing – see: http://bit.ly/1OFkF48. An accompanying podcast was also recorded – see: http://bit.ly/1LVMxQZ. In the week the Bill was read we published two Blogs highlighting some of the unintended consequences of legalising assisted dying:
- Myths, Falsehoods and the Assisted Dying Bill by Dr Kevin Yuill (@historykev) from the Faculty of Education and Society at Sunderland University
- Assisted dying – a nurse’s response by Jessie McGreevy (@McgreevyJessie) – see: http://bit.ly/1OoVMwD
Twitter Chat (#ebnjc) and EBN Opinion
During the year we welcomed Gary Mitchell (@GaryMitchellRN) as our new associate editor for social media. Gary has worked hard to develop how we use social media. As I write this Blog we have 3471 followers on Twitter (@EBNNursingBMJ). Our Twitter Chat (#ebnjc) held every first and third Wednesday of the month (except in December and August) has gone from strength to strength with most chats getting over 900,000 impressions. To see how to join in one of our Twitter Chats go to: https://blogs.bmj.com/ebn/ebn-online-journal-club/. If you don’t have a Twitter account maybe one of your New Year’s resolution should be to sign up?
We have two Twitter Chats in January. The first will focus on placements in primary care settings for pre-registration children’s nursing students and the second exploring the issues related to the proposed changes to nursing and midwifery student finances from September 2017.
This year we have introduced a new type of content to EBN. This is linked to our Twitter Chats and is called EBN Opinion. In these papers we highlight and expand on the debates from the Twitter Chats. So far we have published two of these papers:
- Shape of caring review: impact for children’s nursing education
- Optimising Palliative and End-of-Life Care within Care Home Settings
These can be accessed at http://ebn.bmj.com under the “EBN Opinion” tab.
Blogs
During 2015 we have worked hard to increase the number of people contributing to our Blogs. We continue to have a fortnightly Blog related to our Twitter Chat. In addition to this we have had weeks focusing on key topics such as dementia and mental health. Each week in December we focused on different fields of nursing with contributors from a range of settings. Our Blogs can be accessed at: https://blogs.bmj.com/ebn/.
Research Made Simple Series
The Research Made Simple series has gone from strength to strength. There are now 19 articles published. These can be accessed at: http://ebn.bmj.com under the “Research made simple” tab. I am delighted that four of these papers are among our most cited papers for 2014-2015 and three of them are in our top accessed papers for the year. We will continue to produce more of the Research Made Simple papers during 2016.
Final words
So as we start a New Year I would like to thank everyone who has participated in making the journal a success during 2015 – our readers; Bloggers; the editorial team; those who have taken part in or led our Twitter Chats; and many others. The year ahead will be a challenging one for the health service in the UK and elsewhere. Whatever circumstances you find yourself in I hope that during 2016 you will take the time out to reflect on your practice and ensure that it is evidence based and please keep contributing to EBN.
Alison Twycross (@alitwy)
Editor – Evidence Based Nursing
Head of Department for Children’s Nursing, London South Bank University