Letter From the Editor
Dear Readers:
Welcome to the fourth issue of Ethics and Human Rights Issues Update! I am pleased to feature two articles contributed by our summer interns, Carolyn Jenkins, R.N. of Wesley College in Dover, Delaware and Linda Simunek, R.N., Ph.D., J.D. Head of the School of Nursing at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Carolyn addresses the topic of moral distress in nursing by presenting a story with two endings. The reader is asked to guess which ending is true. Linda surveys perspectives on human rights and reflects on the implications of these for Nursing's Agenda for the Future. It has been wonderful having summer interns working with us over the past three years. These individuals including Tamara Cyhan, R.N., B.S.N., Brenda Jeffers, Ph.D., R.N. and Kevin G. Hook, RN, B.S.N., M.A. have amplified our ability to address ethics and human rights issues, become good friends and also important ambassadors for ANA.
This issue also includes the results of a survey that we completed at the recent ANA Convention in conjunction with the first plenary speech, July 1, 2002 "Our Genetic Future," presented by Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health. Almost three hundred nurses were in attendance at this plenary session and their responses to questions about the impact of genetics on the nursing profession are eye openers. Once again, thank you for your interest in this online newsletter publication and please contact us at any time with your questions, comments or suggestions for articles.
Sincerely, Gladys B. White, Ph.D., R.N.
Editor and Director of the Center for Ethics and Human Rights