This publication is one way of recognising the contributions made by nurses to positive patient outcomes and by nursing to the ongoing viability of our health care organisations.
AS Patricia Benner so succinctly states:
A wealth of untapped knowledge is embedded in the practices and the 'know-how' of expert nurse clinicians, but this knowledge will not expand or fully develop unless nurses systematically record what they learn from their own experience.
From Novice to Expert, Addison - Weslely Pub. 1984, p. 11.
With this publication, we have sought to make visible the knowledge and expertise of nurses firstly to their peers and to their health care colleagues. For this reason we have included abstracts of articles by nurses at St. Vincent's Hospital that have been accepted for publication in established journals.
There could be no more appropriate venue for the launching of this publication than the inaugural St. Vincent's Hospital, Nursing Division Annual General Meeting with its emphasis on nursing research.
An effort such as this just does not happen, especially in the twelve weeks we allowed ourselves from the idea to the reality. We would like to thank Professor John Thomson, who introduced us to the 'publishing world' and Lorraine Cooper and Joanne Williams who painstakingly typed and re-typed this monograph. Without their assistance it would still be in the too hard basket. We thank them.
The Editors.