Dear Colleagues, 

2020 has brought challenges to all of us in our professional and personal lives as we have faced the Covid-19 pandemic and the growing spotlight on the realities of racial inequities. We know we will continue to be challenged in the coming year. Together as individuals and within our professional organizations, we can make a positive impact on both challenges armed with knowledge, caring, courage, and shared insights.

In October of this year, the NPWH Board of Directors approved our position statement on “Structural Racism and Implicit Bias in Women’s Healthcare.” If you have not already done so, you can read this position statement in this issue of the journal. NPWH has committed to making an active and conscious effort to identify and eliminate racial/ethnic bias and discrimination, and intentionally promote racial/ethnic diversity and inclusiveness at all levels of the organization.

As editor-in-chief of Women’s Healthcare: A Clinical Journal for NPs, the official journal of NPWH, I am making a commitment for the journal to be part of this active and conscious effort.  We start by commencing two initiatives.

First, we have put out a call for manuscripts focused on diversity, inclusion, structural racism, and implicit bias. We hope to be able to publish ongoing articles in 2021 addressing these issues within the realm of women’s healthcare providers and systems, women’s health policy, women’s health organizations, and schools of nursing. The journal provides an important venue to delve into these concerns and their impact on our profession and the patients we serve at many levels. Please email queries concerning manuscript submission to info@npwomenshealthcare.com.

Second, we have made a commitment in conjunction with NPWH to create an editorial advisory board (EAB) that is representative of the diversity of our organization members, our journal readers, and the populations our members and readers serve. Diversity encompasses demographic backgrounds, identities (innate and selected), collective strength of experiences/beliefs/values/skills/perspectives, and characteristics of the populations a person serves. The call for EAB member applications sent out at the end of October brought us an abundance of applicants. At the beginning of 2021, we will have our new EAB members in place and will share with you their qualifications as well as those of our continuing EAB members.

Finally, I want to wrap up the year by looking at our journal accomplishments for 2020. This was our first year publishing issues of the journal bimonthly in print and digital format. I extend thanks to the HealthCom Media publishing leadership and the journal staff for making this happen. We have a great team, including authors and peer reviewers. In these six issues of the journal, we have provided readers with interesting, relevant, evidence-based information on women’s health topics including but not limited to: breast cancer, HPV vaccination, postmenopausal dyspareunia, sexual desire disorders, endometriosis, hypertension guidelines and differences in treatment for women versus men, abnormal uterine bleeding, trauma-informed care, fat stigma, perinatal anxiety disorders, postpartum depression, adolescent female healthcare, and hyperprolactinemia, as well as the role of the NP in so many aspects of care.

It is also time for you to choose your favorite articles from 2020. Your vote recognizes and honors the authors of the articles you found most interesting and informative. You can view a full list of articles, with direct links to each one, and then vote for your favorite article from each issue pictured on this page. Please submit your choices by January 5, 2021. Authors of the winning articles will be recognized in the February 2021 issue and on NPWH and Women’s Healthcare social media.

Looking forward to the New Year and a new beginning, I wish you all peace and happiness shared with family and friends however you are able to connect.

Beth Kelsey, EdD, APRN, WHNP-BC, FAANP

Web resource

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