Editor’s Notebook: Stories to Share

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September / October 2005

Editor’s Notebook

Stories to Share

By Susan Carr

  

Patient Safety Officers

For a feature article in the November/December issue, please send a brief report about your work to Susan Carr by the end of October. Questions? Contact me by email (susancarr@psqh.com) or telephone at 978-287-0195.

Are you a patient safety officer? Are you engaged in a project that is particularly exciting? Have you solved a difficult problem recently? Is your work posing challenges you never thought you’d face? Have you thought about seeing your ideas in print? If yes, then I’d like to extend an invitation.

The November/December issue of Patient Safety and Quality Healthcare (PSQH)will include a focus on the work of patient safety officers. I want to present a “snapshot” of what it’s like to do that work in the current environment, and I don’t think there’s a better way than to include some brief, direct reports from individuals reflecting on the daily work of their profession. The writing doesn’t need to be fancy or deeply profound. I’m looking for simple, honest reporting; clearly stated opinions or forecasts; and personal reflections. These reports will undergo the same copyediting process as all of our manuscripts do, so there is no need for our PSO “reporters” to fuss over fine points of spelling and grammar. I’d like to include each reporter’s name and institution, but I will consider running some without attribution, for those who would prefer to be anonymous.

PSO “reporters” can submit their observations and thoughts to me directly by email (susancarr@psqh.com) through the month of October. I will compile the reports, include an introduction, and weave the reports together around themes, if any emerge. Every reporter will see the final manuscript for approval.

I hope to hear from a number of you and look forward to learning more about your work. Your stories will be a service to all of our readers.