If You Start, Anything is Possible

By Kathryn Pekala Service MS, RN, CNP, CDDN

About a year ago, I attended a local dance-concert based upon the Odyssey presented by a group of artists from the Netherlands. After the performance I listened to the discussion that the choreographer, Beppie Blankert, had with audience members. In an answer that Ms. Blankert gave to a question on her idea and its development of such a unique and wondrous piece, she included these words, "If you start, anything is possible".

Perhaps at other times in my life this would have been filed in my memory 'folder' under "Advice from Mom" but, at this particular time, it was quite meaningful to me. I had recently begun studying for my Ph.D. and the inaugural issue of the International Journal of Nursing in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (INJIDD) was being developed for publication. As my studies progress and as the journal continues, even with the challenges that such endeavors inevitably give, I recall those words now, almost like an inspiration.

It is now that I would like to encourage our readers to start writing articles for this (and other) journals. The goals of the journal include providing information by and for nurses about this specialty field. Another goal is the inclusion of interdisciplinary articles. These articles could be co-written by a nurse and a person with ID/D, a family member, support staff or a professional from another discipline. We hope to elicit articles co-written with nurses from other specialties. The paper may be created in many formats including, but not limited to, clinical, theoretical, research and practice informational articles. Essays and case studies are encouraged. At some point we hope to include art, both written and visual. Those of us who have worked in this specialty have experienced professional devaluation by our nursing colleagues, mirroring the historical situation of the people that we support. Nurses in ID/D are now finding their voices in the greater professional arena. We are balancing our past image of "you are so special to work with that population" with genuine specialty knowledge and expertise. At the journal, we want nurses to demonstrate and share that knowledge and expertise.

There is now more written on I/DD by nurses, but most of the articles are by academics. This contributes greatly to that specialty knowledge and promotes our image as a specialty discipline. Do nurses who work directly with people (or, to quote a common general nursing phrase used in the US, 'at the bedside') write professionally? Many of us haven't had either the opportunity or the encouragement (or time!) to do so. Our hope is to encourage nurses to write. Whilst we must promote scholarly articles, we hope to be able to nurture new nurse-authors. One of the editorial goals is to try to work with these writers. If you have an idea for an article, please send it to the editors in a query letter. We would be pleased to work with you on developing it. It may be less daunting to start with a book review or essay. Working with another person may also be supportive. Nurses in the field have so much knowledge and information to share! Please consider writing. . .

Remember: If you start, anything is possible...