Dear Colleagues,
I have a few updates and opportunities regarding the journal that I’d like to share with you. First, there is an erratum in our September 2017 issue’s Focus on Sexual Health article, “Persistent genital arousal disorder: The uninvited guest (Part 2),” by Brooke M. Faught. The first paragraph and a portion of the second paragraph of the article were inadvertently omitted in the print version of the journal. The article is published in its entirety in the online version of the September 2017 issue.
I hope you enjoy this issue of Women’s Healthcare: A Clinical Journal for NPs. It rounds out the four issues for 2017: February, May, September, and November. We strive to provide our readers with diverse topics and formats in each issue. We would like to recognize the articles, as well as their authors, that you found the most interesting and informative. Let us know which ones you liked best by voting for your top two favorite articles for 2017. You may choose among full-length feature articles, case reports (On the case…), or shorter articles in any of our journal departments: Assessment & management, Clinical resources, Commentary, DNP projects: Spotlight on practice, Focus on sexual health, Policy & practice points, and Professional development. You can view the full list of articles and vote here. Please submit your choices by January 10, 2018. We will announce the winners in the February 2018 issue.
If you are considering submitting a report on your DNP project for the journal’s DNP projects: Spotlight on practice department, we have good news! We have expanded the word count limit to 1,300 words. This department invites DNP students or recent graduates to submit reports on their DNP projects in abstract form for publication consideration. The expanded word count should enable authors to provide more detailed information, particularly regarding the methods, results/outcomes, and implications for women’s health of their quality improvement projects. See our Guidelines for Authors for format and submission instructions.
If you are seeking a challenging but rewarding opportunity to participate in enhancing advanced practice nursing knowledge, I invite you to consider becoming a peer reviewer for our journal. Peer reviewers can be content experts, practice experts, or research methodology experts. We match the skills of a peer reviewer with the needs of a given manuscript, so we look for a diversity of clinical and academic backgrounds. You need not be a seasoned author (although we welcome this experience) to be a valuable peer reviewer. In fact, aspiring or novice authors may find the process of doing peer reviews helpful in improving the quality of their own writing. We provide peer reviewers with an evaluation form when they accept an invitation to review a manuscript for publication consideration.We ask reviewers to determine whether the manuscript is accurate, supported by evidence, relevant, and clearly presented, and to make suggestions for improvement. We also ask them to check references for timeliness and appropriateness and to identify any important resources that might be missing. Click here for our peer reviewer application form.
I extend a huge thank-you to everyone who made the 20th Annual NPWH Premier Women’s Healthcare Conference in Seattle such a great success, with the most attendees ever! It is difficult to believe we have been planning and attending these conferences for 20 years! Each year just gets better and better, thanks to the extraordinary team effort of our Planning Committee, Board of Directors, staff members, and CEO, Gay Johnson. Our Education and Research Committees work diligently to ensure that the content of the podium presentations and posters is evidence based and relevant to nurse practitioners providing healthcare for women. Our exhibitors afford us an opportunity to learn and get questions answered about women’s health products, services, and pharmaceuticals.

Dory Greene, our managing editor, and I presented at this year’s conference on writing for publication. We were delighted to hear from several attendees that they are interested in putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard for the journal. Are you interested too? If so, please send an email to bkelsey@healthcommedia.com and/or dgreene@healthcommedia.com.
If you are looking for a conference that covers it all—from contemporary issues to keep up to date, to the challenging issues we face clinically and professionally every day, to the practical hands-on skills we need to provide the best care for our patients—plan to join us for the 21st Annual NPWH Premier Women’s Healthcare Conference in San Antonio on October 10-13, 2018.

Enjoy the holidays with family and friends!
Beth Kelsey, EdD, APRN, WHNP-BC, FAANP