The year 2017 is coming to an end, and the New Year's bell is about to ring. The International Journal of Nursing Sciences (IJNSS) experienced a productive year. At this happy moment of bidding farewell to the old and ushering in the new, the editorial board members and staff and I are delighted to wish the leaders, colleagues and friends who have supported us a happy and healthy New Year!
The year 2017 is outstanding and unforgettable. The Chinese Nursing Association (CNA), a member of the International Council of Nurses (ICN), actively participated in the ICN Congress held in Barcelona in May and successfully shared great achievements and ideas in clinical work and research, thereby demonstrating a magnificent, impressive and elegant image of Chinese nurses.
The world moves on in a never-ending process of the new replacing the old. Innovation is required to brew new breakthroughs and thus maintain a sustainable professional development. In 2017, the CNA won the ICN NNNAs Innovation Award, which affirmed that Chinese nursing had become an integral and indispensable part of the world of nursing innovation. However, success means high demand for innovation, especially now that China is in a period of population aging and substantial changes to disease profiles. The issues of non-communicable diseases, such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes, are still prominent; the coupling caring pressure from the aged and the youth occurs; and long-term chronic diseases require a wide range of nursing works. All these concerns make innovation necessary, such as new working modes and personnel allocations, new nursing skills and products and new educational programs for clinical specialised nurses. Thus, CNA held the National Nursing Scientific Conference and set up the Nursing Innovation Award, which greatly promoted the overall atmosphere of creativity and innovation in nursing.
Innovation drives development whilst cooperation ensures long-term stability of the nursing profession as it grows. To significantly enhance the quality of nursing, cooperation amongst nursing workforces of the world is important as cooperation leads to new ideas and advanced skills. Health organisations of all countries can also benefit by meeting challenges together. In 2017, WHO set up a new position, Chief Nursing Officer, which eased the international cooperation. The BRICS Countries Nursing Forum held in Beijing in 2017 also helped strengthen the international communication in the nursing field. We, Chinese nurses, as a major strength of the international nursing family, not only aspire for good health for people in China, but also hope that the international community can devote concerted efforts to guarantee people in other parts of the world a healthy life.
In the year 2017, the IJNSS remained committed to the original mission and experienced a particularly successful and productive year. Topics published covered a wide range of nursing-related issues in the modern day, such as advancing nursing practices, bio-psychosocial issues related to health, chronic illness care, family caregiving, nursing education and theory construction and analysis, thereby providing a wide range of academic exchange platforms for nursing educators, managers, researchers and staff. All these successes had been possible because you, nurses, actively added your voices to this Journal. Through publishing your research and ideas in IJNSS, you let others know what was at stake and thus move this career forward. I hope every nurse passionately believes that your voice can make a difference, and the IJNSS is here to provide you with an opportunity to let your voice be heard.
The year 2018 will undoubtedly bring a large number of opportunities and changes. The collective editorial team of IJNSS will continue to work rigorously to promote excellence in nursing and health care through dissemination of the latest, evidence-based, peer-reviewed clinical information and original research. Happy New Year!
Footnotes
Peer review under responsibility of Chinese Nursing Association.