Great Idea, Great Opportunity: Virtual International Writing Collaborative
by Dianne Richmond
When nurses get together great things are destined to happen. Such was the case in November 2005 during the Sigma Theta Tau International Convention held in Indianapolis, Indiana. A small group of nurses representing chapters from three different continents met casually for dinner. The attendees included Maria Caliri (Brazil), Rosalina Rodrigues (Brazil), Leana Uys (South Africa), Lynda Harrison (USA) and Pam Autrey (USA). During the course of the evening Maria Caliri mentioned the Brazilian faculty's desire to publish in peer-reviewed English nursing journals. The primary language in Brazil is Portuguese. This was considered to a barrier to getting published. Thus the brainstorming began. It did not take long for this group to birth the idea of creating a virtual international writing collaborative with a mentoring focus. Two writing teams would be formed. Each team would consist of two members from each chapter, for a total of six members on each team. The goal of the writing collaborative would to assist the 12 members in the production of a manuscript worthy of submission for publication. The collaborative requires a one-year commitment from all involved participants.
When the nurses returned to their respective chapters, the idea was received with great enthusiasm and anticipation by each Board of Directors and the Deans of their respective Schools of Nursing. Each chapter identified a chapter member to coordinate the activity of the writing collaborative. The selected coordinators are Maria Caliri (Rho Upsilon Chapter, Brazil), Lyn Middleton (Tau-Lambda Chapter, Africa) and Dianne Richmond (Nu Chapter, USA). The work of the coordinators includes:
Sending out a call to chapter members to participate in the writing collaborative.
Review and selection of participants.
Defining roles and responsibilities.
Setting up a cyber forum for group interaction.
Formation of the two international groups.
Creation of a time line and work plan that progress toward the goals and objectives of the writing collaborative.
Maintaining the group on point and on course.
Shaping the project design to allow for project replication and operational research.
The call to participate went out to both novice and experience writers. The member response to the call to participate was successful in all countries. The Nu Chapter response resulted in the selection of Angela Akinsanya, Ellen Buckner, Charles Downs and Shelly Fields-Ryan. Teena McGuiness (Associate Professor of Nursing, University of South Alabama) and Dean Doreen Harper (UAB SON) along with other experienced and published members of Nu Chapter have offered themselves as resources to the writing collaborative.
The project aligns itself well with components of Sigma Theta Tau International's strategic plan:
Advance global links at the organizational and member levels
Advance the scientific base of nursing practice through the scholarship of research
Stimulate scholarly practice in the professional lives of members
Additionally, this project presents an opportunity for Nu Chapter to join international thought leaders in creating a model of collaborative scholarly excellence.