Shirey, a noted expert in health-care leadership and management, began her tenure with the January 2016 issue and will serve a three-year term renewable at the discretion of the NAHQ Board of Directors.
For Shirey, this appointment is the culmination of a dream she began nurturing more than a decade ago as a PhD student at Indiana University. At that time, several of her mentors complimented her writing and provided encouragement and opportunities for her to pursue that interest, and later, a growing interest in becoming a journal editor as well.
“It was at Indiana University that I began writing a column for one of the journals for which one of my professors was the editor-in-chief,” Shirey said. “That experience helped me to understand publication deadlines, publication processes, how my pieces contributed to the whole. Across those years I’ve done whatever it took to learn this skill set, and I am excited to be moving into a new phase as an editor-in-chief.”
Dr. Maria ShireyShirey’s previous experience includes contributing a column on entrepreneurship to the journal Clinical Nurse Specialist, serving as the deputy editor of Nursing Forum, serving as a co-guest editor on multiple assignments for Nursing Administration Quarterly, and for five years contributing a recurring column to the Journal of Nursing Administration. In her career, she has published over 100 journal articles and served on multiple editorial boards.She is also active in The International Academy of Nurse Editors (INANE) and credits that affiliation with providing important educational and networking opportunities that helped prepare her for the JHQ editorship.
“I have had a lot of editor colleagues who were willing to mentor me, and I plan to pass that along to others in the same way that those opportunities were passed along to me,” Shirey said.
She said she does not plan to make immediate changes to what has already long been a successful journal, but in the future does want to see the focus of its content become more balanced between researchers and practitioners to more adequately reflect the makeup of the NAHQ membership.
“It’s an honor to be named editor of this important and prestigious journal and to play a role in the ongoing development of health-care quality leadership, research, and practice,” Shirey said. “On behalf of the associate editors and the full editorial team, we look forward to hearing from our readers and the research and practice communities as we work together to build the JHQ’s history of contributing to important advances in the field.”
The JHQ is the NAHQ’s professional forum for continuous advancement of quality health-care practice. The journal presents original research and other content, providing leaders in diverse and changing environments across health-care settings with evidence to promote quality improvement, patient safety, performance measurement and more.
