Very Early in the Life of Longwoods Publishing, I Met Lynn Nagle…

It was in the dean's boardroom that I first met Lynn Nagle. The dean of medicine's boardroom, no less – at the University of Toronto. Something organized by HPME operating under a different name at the time. I have no recollection of the topic for discussion that day or the other people in the room. But I remember Lynn Nagle, PhD. She sat beside me, dressed in shades of black, adorned in an array of silver jewellery, and quietly engaging as she chatted with me and others before the meeting got underway. When the topic of the day came up and the chair asked for her opinion she was thoughtful, and people listened. She was CIO of Mount Sinai Hospital at the time. And a nurse. That had to be an appealing combination to many a CEO. I'm guessing she had broken some barriers in the process of getting that appointment and did so without any pomp and circumstance. That day at the meeting, it was evident that this was someone who commanded respect from a table of individuals focused on healthcare and invited to the dean's inner sanctum. What's not to like? All that, and I still don't remember what the topic was. I'm guessing health records.

Subsequently, I had quite a few dealings with Lynn, who became a regular author and contributor to our journals, and a trusted adviser as we cover this absorbing sector called healthcare.

Fast-forward about a dozen years or so and I'm advised by Dorothy Pringle, editor-in-chief of the Canadian Journal of Nursing Leadership, that Lynn had for some time been making notable, thoughtful, helpful and timely contributions to a number of projects, including the demanding creation of Health Outcomes for Better Information and Care (HOBIC). Borrowing from their website, I learn that HOBIC's focus is on performance standards that promote high-quality patient outcomes, and on health information systems that would provide comprehensive and reliable data. Originally based in nursing, the scope of the project came to include other interdisciplinary team members starting with pharmacists, occupational therapists and physical therapists. Lynn had joined the team as IT lead. And so she came to work directly with the project's executive lead – our editor-in-chief. Together with project manager Peggy White and others, their commitment was to expand the benefit of this information for CEOs, nurse leaders, nurses and, most of all, patients and clients of the healthcare system.

What great preparation for Lynn to become editor-in-chief of a national journal focused on leadership in nursing. Way to go, Dot – always thinking ahead. Lynn was subsequently invited to be associate editor of this journal and quickly built a working relationship with our editorial team led by Dianne Foster-Kent. That collaboration is key to the future of this journal, and they have turned out to be an excellent team.

We do have a complete CV for Lynn Nagle, but the editorial board of the Academy of Canadian Executive Nurses probably didn't need it to endorse the appointment. Unanimously. Now we are underway. This is all to our readers' benefit, and so I'm pleased to welcome her, officially, to the editor's chair. What a pleasure to be able to learn from her fresh perspective and keen intelligence.

Lynn has now completed her first issue as editor-in-chief, and you can tell her what you think. Please do. I'm confident she'll listen.

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