Societal changes have empowered persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) to more fully participate in community life. Nurses in all practice settings are finding they must be prepared to provide nursing care, support, training, advocacy, and leadership as children and adults with I/DD are integrated into all aspects of community life. In most cases, undergraduate education for nurses does not adequately prepare nurses in the area of I/DD. For the most part, knowledge and skill has been achieved by nurses through years of practice in this specialized area of nursing and by active participation in their specialty organizations and continuing education programs. Without opportunities to gain educational and practical experience, nurses in diverse health care settings may not have the means to access information that will improve their ability to work effectively with persons who have intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The mission of the Developmental Disabilities Nurses Association (DDNA) is to continually develop nursing expertise in order to assure the highest quality of life to the people we support throughout their life span. Therefore, it will be essential that educational opportunities become available for all nurses to explore common issues and concerns and broaden their knowledge. Convenient access to both relevant and current information will provide the means to enhance the nursing services to individuals with I/DD, their family members, support staff, and professionals who are part of community interdisciplinary teams.

Over 200 nursing journals address various nursing specialties, but no journal has specifically dealt with intellectual and developmental disabilities nursing until now. Technological advances have made it possible to reduce time and access barriers to learning opportunities by using electronic journals to share specialty knowledge that can be utilized by all nurses in a wide range of practice settings around the world.

To meet the challenge of reaching out to "all" nurses, the idea of producing an electronic nursing journal in I/DD began during the editor's fellowship at the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental & Related Disabilities (LEND) program, a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) at the Shriver Center in Waltham, Massachusetts. This exciting and challenging pursuit continued after LEND with the support of the Developmental Disabilities Nurses Association (DDNA), the Evergreen Center, Professional Education Resources and Conference Services (PERCS) and the collaborative efforts of the interdisciplinary editorial board, a dedicated group of experts in the field of I/DD from around the world.

Although the journal was initially started with the support of DDNA, it was not a product of DDNA. We are pleased to report that DDNA has redesigned and is now hosting the journal's website. This will allow for expansion of the journal with more educational opportunities becoming available.

The International Journal of Nursing in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities is a free scholarly electronic journal for nurses, individuals, families and others interested in promoting optimal health and nursing supports for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The journal is dedicated to meeting the information needs of those who seek effective ways of supporting individuals with I/DD. The journal seeks to provide information and resources on a wide range of topics and will address clinical, non-clinical and research issues. It will provide information about nursing practice; individual, family and caregiver partnerships; educational strategies; policy development; research and diverse clinical topics.

The first issue, Historical and Global Perspectives of Nursing and Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, was "theme oriented." The last few issues covered a wide range of clinical topics. Depending upon expressed interest and manuscripts that are submitted, future issues may address either one or a variety of topics.