The saying "Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door," could be rephrased as "Build a quality journal and scholars and researchers will beat a cyber-path to your web site" when referring to the Online Journal of Issues in Nursing (OJIN) created by the School of Nursing at Kent State University and the American Nurses Association (ANA).
OJIN marks its second anniversary this summer. In June of 1996, the peer-reviewed, electronic journal premiered with Issue One at the 100th American Nurses Association Convention held in Washington, D.C. Kent's School of Nursing was established in 1967 is the largest school of nursing in Ohio.
The success of the OJIN is demonstrated world-wide in the number of website visitors, according to co-editor, Harriet Coeling, PhD, RN.
"In only two years, since that first issue, OJIN has had a steady increase in readers at national and international levels. For the past year OJIN has consistently held three of the top seven most requested pages in Nursing World," Coeling said.
The number of hits for the site tallies in at 13,456 sessions a month more than a third of Nursing World user sessions, Coeling added. Coeling is an associate professor and the director of the Graduate Nursing of Adult Program at Kent State University. Nursing World is the website of the American Nurses Association (ANA).
Besides being a valuable resource tool -- through articles submitted and links to other websites OJIN offers a forum format that stimulates discussion of nursing issues. The journal defines an issue as a current topic about which there are no right or wrong opinions, but rather different viewpoints. Through this format, OJIN presents several different views on topics that affect nursing.
Many topics now online are as timely as the headlines in today's newspaper or newscast: "Managed Care," "Who Does What in Health Care?" "Who Pays Whom for What in Health Care?" and others. Upcoming topics will include "Who Pays for What in Health Care?" and "Bioethics."
By including these topics, the website provides students, scholars and researchers a solid perspective on nursing in this day and age.
"Each issue addresses one topic of interest to both healthcare professionals and healthcare consumers. Each topic, explored from a variety of viewpoints, provides a timely and thorough discussion of a health-related issue," Coeling said.
Besides being a resource for nursing professionals world-wide, the website is a valuable study aid and resource for students at Kent and other schools across the nation and around the world, according to Dr. Davina Gosnell, dean of the School of Nursing.
"We at Kent are very pleased with the success of OJIN and the opportunity it affords to provide timely information and viewpoints on current issues in nursing and health care. We are fortunate to have established such an excellent collaborative endeavor with ANA. Without their part this venture would never have been possible," Gosnell said.
"We want nursing students to have access to the latest and most up-to-date information and resources. We want them to know how to find and retrieve information from the web and this journal is one tool we can offer," Coeling added.
While the online kudos from visitors praise the journal's coverage and presentation of issues, the site's ease of navigation and clean design present information in an accessible and readable manner. Special interest topics and standing features of the site are easily located.
A strong presence on OJIN has reinforced Kent's contribution in providing nurses for the 21stcentury. Of the more than 30 national nursing leaders on the editorial board, eight are Kent faculty and administrators.
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