Letters to the Editors

Nurses speak up

Dear Editors,

Imagine my joy when I, living in Germany, opened the July issue of the Journal of Emergency Nursing and saw an article about emergency care written by Queen’s researchers. Awesome—I opened a magazine dedicated to my profession and see the Queen’s name—and then I saw it was written exclusively by Queen’s School of Medicine. Where was the Queen’s Nursing input? Understandably, scholars conduct their own research within their own departments and publish it but it begs the question: if Queen’s Meds is to publish in a nursing journal, why didn’t someone pick the brains of some of the most intelligent nurses in North America and give them authoring credit? 

Does the Queen’s community not know the kind of brain trust they have hidden away in the Cataraqui building? Could someone not have taken a short jaunt down the street from KGH and said “Hey, you know, we’re doing this article for a nursing journal and you’re the experts in nursing, so—whaddya think?” When physicians presume to write about “Implications for Emergency Nurses,” nurse scientists should be their co-authors and participants. I didn’t see one author with an “RN” after their name. I wouldn’t expect to write an article and state “Implications for Physicians’ Practices” unless I had written the article with physicians. 

Perhaps I’m wrong. I hope I’m wrong. If the Queen’s community doesn’t know about, understand, or seek out its unbelievable resource of nurse scholars, is the community underestimating them? A BNSc from Queen’s is four years of some of the most gruelling academic rigor available in North America. Queen’s is Canada’s answer to Harvard. Queen’s nurses are or will become the most expert and educated in their field and should be consulted whenever questions about nursing practice arise. 

Katharine Froede, Nurs ’01

RN, BNSc., MSN

Thanks, AMS

Dear Editors,

Many thanks to Queen’s AMS from the students, staff and the Board of Directors at the Ban Righ Centre for their support of mature women students through their generous contribution of catered food for Ban Righ’s Annual Spring Celebration 2009.

The Spring Celebration acknowledges the contributions of mature women at Queen’s and the challenges they face in juggling family responsibilities, work and school. Ban Righ has a centre on campus with services and resources for mature women students at 32 Bader Lane (beside Ban Righ Hall).

Thank you AMS, too, for your ongoing bursary support through a $1.00 student interest fee to these students and their families.

Lisa Webb

The Ban Righ Centre, Queen’s University

All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s)-in-Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.

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