New look for American Nurse Today, new ANA leadership

ANOTHER YEAR has gone by, and new excitement is afoot. From new section titles in American Nurse Today to new American Nurses Association (ANA) leadership, 2019 brings changes that reflect nurses’ needs.

New look: American Nurse Today

The Mind/Body/Spirit section in the journal will now be called Healthy Nurse. This new name builds on ANA’s Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation™ initiative, which connects and engages nurses, employers, and organizations around improving health in five areas: physical activity, nutrition, rest, quality of life, and safety. A healthy nurse is a better role model, educator, and advocate—personally, for families, for communities, for work environments, and for patients. We hope that you’ll find inspiration and ideas in this section to improve your own physical and psychological health, as well as your patients’ health. Our first article under the new banner focuses on verbal de-escalation when faced with a difficult patient situation. You can find the article on page 5.

Our Career Sphere section has been retitled Life at Work. This new name better reflects the goal of this section: to bring you ideas about how to thrive on the job every day, not only when you’re seeking a new job or role. This issue’s article asks the question: What if you’re the bully? You can read it on page 22.

New ANA President: Ernest Grant

Welcome to new ANA President Ernest Grant, PhD, RN, FAAN, whose term began January 1, 2019. A former Nurse of the Year award winner, he’s the first man to be elected to the office of ANA president. Thanks to his world-class expertise in burns-related treatment and fire safety, Ernest is a leading educator in this field and has lent his experience to various branches of the U.S. military as well as civilian fields. Before becoming ANA president, he oversaw outreach for the nationally acclaimed North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Hospitals in Chapel Hill and was adjunct faculty for the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Nursing, where he worked with undergraduate and graduate nursing students in the classroom and clinical settings.

I’m excited to see Ernest take the helm and to work with him. He’s highly qualified to lead ANA, and in my conversations with him, I can tell he views representing the nearly 4 million U.S. registered nurses very seriously. I recently saw him speak to students in the Duke University doctorate of nursing science policy class. It was fun to be with him and see him in academic action.

Read more about Ernest at myamericannurse.com/ana-president-ernest-grant/.

New award recipient: Healthcare leader

Pamela F. Cipriano On November 3, Pam Cipriano, PhD, RN, FAAN, received the Health Care Leader Award from the American Academy of Nursing (AAN). Pam is known nationally and internationally as a strong advocate for healthcare quality and for advancing nursing’s influence on healthcare policy. You may know her as the 35th president of ANA (her tenure ended on December 31, 2018). For all of us at American Nurse Today, we know her as the journal’s first editor-in-chief, who guided the initial editorial plan into place.

I remember her as the public face of nursing in response to the arrival of Ebola in the United States. Shortly after she assumed the ANA presidency in 2014, she was featured in dozens of interviews for print, TV, and online media and quickly became a credible voice who reduced misinformation about the outbreak and advocated for evidence-based policies. Her stellar efforts earned ANA the American College of Medical Quality’s 2015 Institutional Leadership in Quality Award.

Not enough print space exists for me to describe all of the accolades Pam deserves. However, I can’t imagine a more fitting way to recognize her leadership, as the baton is passed to the new ANA president, than for her to receive the AAN Health Care Leader Award, an award given only twice before.

Scanning the horizon

I appreciate being able to reflect with you about change and to look ahead during this annual welcome-the-year ritual. It gives us a chance to scan the horizon, be of good cheer, and ring in all that is new. Happy New Year, everyone.

Lillee Gelinas, MSN, RN, CPPS, FAAN

Editor-in-Chief