RNJ Corner: Meet Your Editors and New 2020 Editorial Board Members

The Rehabilitation Nursing Journal (RNJ) contains educational content that focuses on contemporary rehabilitation nursing practice across the continuum of care and the lifespan. The journal is published every other month, and it provides opportunities for professional development, as well as a forum for the dissemination of information pertinent to practice, education, research, and administration. RNJ addresses current healthcare topics relevant to nursing, other professions, and rehabilitation. Your RNJ editors strive to provide a journal that disseminates timely information and new trends in practice each issue.

Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editor

Pamala D. Larsen, PhD MS RN

Dr. Larsen, editor-in-chief, has been an ARN member since 1985 and has served on various committees and task forces over the years, including chair from 2007 to 2009 for the Rehabilitation Nursing Foundation, the then-research arm of ARN. She held the designated Certified Rehabilitation Registered Nurse (CRRN) title from 1988 to 2011. Dr. Larsen retired in 2013 from the School of Nursing at the University of Wyoming and is a professor emerita. Throughout most of her career, she was a faculty member and nursing education dean/director. Dr. Larsen is the editor of Lubkin’s Chronic Illness: Impact and Intervention (editions 4–10) and Finding a Way Through Cancer, Dying and Widowhood, a memoir chronicling her life and how she dealt with her husband’s death.

Linda L. Pierce, PhD MSN RN CRRN FAAN

Dr. Pierce, associate editor of RNJ, has more than 30 years of experience as a rehabilitation nurse. She is a CRRN, past president of ARN, and Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. Dr. Pierce is professor emerita at the University of Toledo (Ohio) and taught in their undergraduate and graduate programs. Her interests center on advancing the science of healthy well-being and the art of compassionate caring. Dr. Pierce concentrates on interventions and treatments for people dealing with human responses to disability, assisting them in maintaining, attaining, and regaining their ability. Her program of research is related to caregivers for people with stroke and dementia and long-term care issues. Dr. Pierce has numerous publications. She serves as a consultant for web-based support/education, as well as research designs and data collection and analyses, in the United States and Canada.

Editorial Board Members

Joining the editors are eight nurses who serve on the RNJ Editorial Board. These board terms are for 2 years with the possibility of being reappointed for an additional term. Board members are practicing registered nurses who hold a minimum of a master’s degree, they have publication experience (e.g., peer-reviewed books and chapters, journal articles), and they are ARN members. They represent a variety of nurse practice roles and settings (e.g., acute, long-term, subacute, home care, education, research, case management, administration, consultation) and all regions of the United States and other countries.

The Editorial Board members are responsible for peer review of manuscripts submitted for publication in RNJ. They also assist the editors in shaping the vision and future direction of the journal. Meet the new members for 2020–2021 of the RNJ Editorial Board.

New Members

Shelly Amato, PhD APRN-CNS CRRN CNRN  

Dr. Amato is the clinical nurse specialist for the stroke, spinal cord injury, and traumatic brain injury acute inpatient rehabilitation units at the MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute of Ohio in Cleveland. She also serves as the quality officer for the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Recently, Dr. Amato expanded her role, and she is now an APRN-CN and system scientist assisting with mentoring nurses in designing and implementing research studies. She is also actively involved in quality improvement and serves as the advisor for the Knowledge & Innovation Council at MetroHealth. Shelly has more than 30 years of experience in rehabilitation nursing as a staff nurse and clinical nurse specialist, achieving certification in rehabilitation and neuroscience nursing. In addition, she has been involved in various research activities and serves as the vice-chair of the MetroHealth Institutional Review Board. Dr. Amato’s research interests include traumatic brain injury, sleep, and rehabilitation.

Cheryl E. Gies, DNP MSN APRN CNP

Dr. Gies is a University of Toledo (Ohio) professor emerita teaching in the undergraduate and graduate nursing programs, where she also served as the first APRN program director. Dr. Gies has decades of cardiovascular nursing experience in critical care and cardiac rehabilitation. As a certified adult nurse practitioner, her practice includes the care of adult and geriatric populations. Currently, she is a healthcare provider at the University of Toledo Community Care Clinic in Toledo. Dr. Gies’ expertise was instrumental in designing and directing an innovative Safe Physical Activity initiative for persons with severe mental illness and co-developing the first Metabolic Syndrome Clinic in a state psychiatric facility. Dr. Gies has published research in areas of smoking cessation, dementia, caregiver support, and falls.

Put Your Editorial Board to Work!

The RNJ Editorial Board is a well-rounded group of rehabilitation nurses. For information for authors and manuscript submission, visit the RNJ website.

Written by Linda L. Pierce, PhD MSN RN CRRN FAAN, Associate Editor, and Pamala D. Larsen, PhD MS RN, Editor-in-Chief