Musculoskelet. Care 8 (2010) 1 © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 1

EDITORIAL

Musculoskeletal Care: The Journey Continues . . .

Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/msc.176

• Sensitivity to change of the Rheumatoid Arthrits Self

Effi cacy Scale (Hewlett, 2008)

• BSR guidelines for anti-TNF (Deighton, 2005)

• A critical review of rehabilitation in rheumatoid

arthritis (Hammond, 2004).

As we look forward to the spring, Musculoskeletal Care

will be receiving ‘a make-over’; this will include changes

to the format of the Journal (increased A4 size), as well

as putting renewed emphasis on including more clini-

cally focused papers. The Journal will, of course, remain

committed to publishing original research papers.

There will also be a new section, entitled ‘News and

Views’, which will provide the opportunity to share

details of forthcoming events and debate on a range of

topics. It would also seem timely publicly to cement the

relationship with the British Health Professionals in

Rheumatology (BHPR) by including their logo within

the Journal. Musculoskeletal Care is indebted to all past

presidents and council members of the BHPR who had

the vision for a multidisciplinary journal, whose com-

mitment made the vision a reality and who provided

the BHPR with the opportunity for editorial collabora-

tion for the benefi t of its members.

To herald the launch of the new Musculoskeletal

Care, the journal will be distributed free to all members

of the BHPR and the Royal Colleague of Nursing Rheu-

matology Forum. This will hopefully engage more col-

leagues in reading the Journal, while enticing any

would-be writers to share their practice or research.

The free distribution will be partly funded by corporate

sponsors, who will advertise their products and be

acknowledged in the Journal. We would like to thank

our sponsors for their support.

The journey continues . . .

Sarah Ryan

Editor Musculoskeletal Care

2003 heralded the birth of a new journal: Musculoskele-

tal Care. The Journal originated at a time of new begin-

nings in rheumatology. There were new drug treatments

in the form of biologic treatments, new roles with the

development of consultant nurse and allied health pro-

fessional (AHP) posts, and AHP research was continu-

ing to fl ourish. It was the ideal time to launch

Musculoskeletal Care and provide nurses and AHPs

with the opportunity to share clinical, educational and

research activities with a wider audience.

As the Journal reaches its 8th anniversary, it is worth

focusing on its purpose and aims, which are as

follows . . .

Musculoskeletal Care is a peer-reviewed journal for

all health professionals committed to the clinical deliv-

ery of high-quality care for people with musculoskeletal

conditions, and provides knowledge to support deci-

sion making by professionals, patients and policy

makers.

The objectives of the journal include:

1. Dissemination of evidence-based practice;

2. Provision of clinical information on the manage-

ment of patients with musculoskeletal conditions;

3. Sharing of clinical, educational and research inno-

vations relevant to professionals working within

musculoskeletal health or to patients with a

musculoskeletal condition;

4. Musculoskeletal developments – for example, clini-

cal guidelines on the management of patients with

rheumatoid arthritis.

Refl ecting on a selection of papers that the Journal has

published reveals that it is remaining true to its

ideology:

• Outcomes from a rheumatology nurse practitioner

clinic (Hill, 2003)