Dear Colleagues,
As we wrap up 2023, I want to highlight the wide variety of content we have covered. I hope we have provided something of interest and relevance to every reader. This highlight has two purposes. The first purpose is to celebrate another year of high-quality, interesting, and practical information that can be used in clinical practice, teaching, and professional development. The second purpose is to inspire you to think about writing and what fresh and pertinent topics could be addressed.
Articles focused on reproductive, gynecologic, and sexual health addressed topics such as self-managed medication abortion; heavy periods and bleeding disorder evaluation in adolescents; high tone pelvic floor and bowel, urinary, and sexual health; cervical cancer screening disparities; Mycoplasma genitalium; pelvic masses; and male infertility. Pregnancy and postpartum articles covered topics that included hypertensive disorders in pregnancy; headaches in pregnancy; gestational diabetes; use of misoprostol and mifepristone in the management of early pregnancy loss; mental health self-care strategies during pregnancy and postpartum; and adoption. We published articles focused on perimenopause and menopause that addressed the use of dietary supplements to alleviate menopausal vasomotor symptoms, whether it is necessary to test menopausal hormone levels, health implications of early estrogen loss, and in this issue, management of menopausal symptoms for individuals at high risk for breast cancer.
Topics covered in articles focused on primary care included recurrent urinary tract infections; low back pain; alcohol use screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment; variants of acne vulgaris; caring for breast cancer survivors; Long Covid; and in this issue, medications for the treatment of obesity/overweight. Policy and practice articles provided information on state policies on alcohol use during pregnancy and the Medicaid sterilization consent/waiting period. A professional development article offered insights on PhD-prepared WHNPs and the generation of women’s health science. We published four DNP Projects: Spotlight on Practice articles. The authors of commentaries shared enlightening information on vicarious trauma and effects of wildfire smoke exposure in pregnancy.
I hope that looking over these 2023 highlights inspires you to consider writing and submitting a manuscript for publication consideration. Choose a topic in which you are interested and have knowledge and believe would be relevant to nurse practitioners providing women’s and gender-related healthcare. One strategy as you think about topics is to visit the journal website npwomenshealthcare.com and review what has been covered in the last few years by clicking on the Clinical Topics tabs at the top of the page and browsing by topic area. Another strategy is to review our NPWH position statements, as manuscripts on these topics would be relevant. As examples, the NPWH board of directors approved the position statements Intimate Partner Violence; Climate Change, Women’s Health, and Environmental Justice; and Menstrual Equity and Menstrual Health in 2021; WHNPs as Partners in Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis; Access to Safe Abortion Care; and Trauma-Informed Care in 2022, and most recently in 2023, Role of WHNPs in the Scholarship of Discovery, Practice, and Teaching; and Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Women. You can find all 24 of our position statements on the NPWH website. Once you choose a topic, consider which of the multiple formats we offer. Read the author guidelines (npwomenshealthcare.com/author-guidelines) to learn about these formats, author expectations, and the submission process. We welcome queries on the topic and format you are considering. Please contact managing editor Gretchen Schwenker at gschwenker@healthcommedia.com or me at bkelsey@npwh.org. Finally, regarding writing, NPWH has chosen three priority issue areas for 2023–2025: perimenopause and menopause, reproductive health, and maternal health. The manuscript topics for these priority issue areas are countless. What are your colleagues saying they need to know in these areas, what are current trends, and/or are there new or updated guidelines or new medications for treatment?
Beyond writing, we are looking for peer reviewers with expertise in primary care, mental health, and LGBTQ+ health. Peer reviewers assist the editor in chief with ensuring journal content is credible, high quality, and relevant to our readers. Click here to learn more about the qualifications and role of peer reviewers and for an application.
Enjoy the holidays and watch for more from us in 2024.
Beth Kelsey, EdD, APRN, WHNP-BC, FAANP