The festive season is well underway and often a time to reflect on the year’s achievements and plan for the year ahead. From a personal perspective, I have had an exciting but challenging year.  The year started with joining the editorial team at Evidence-Based Nursing and more recently taking up a new post as Senior Lecturer in Children’s Nursing at the University of Huddersfield, UK. Starting any new role is exciting but also there is apprehension of the unknown. Although change can be daunting it is also a great opportunity to embrace different perspectives and new ways of working. As a person that flourishes on challenges, these opportunities are already bring new openings in terms of networking and engaging in debates with international peers passionate about nursing, learning and sharing experiences with new colleagues and forming new research collaborations.  What has stuck me is the commonalities of issues facing nurses across the globe, many of which have been reported in the weekly ENB blogs. Issues which have stimulated debate have included; nurses striving to deliver high quality care despite increasing economic pressures and a need to speak out if care failings are witnessed, and the need to prepare the nurses of the future to be critical reflective thinkers that can deliver evidence based care with comparison. I am sure these issues will continue to dominate the nursing, and healthcare, agenda in 2014.

This year has been successful in that I have had opportunity to present at two international conference; the 2^nd Paediatric Nurses Association Europe Congress (Glasgow, Scotland 2013) and the 7th International Shared Decision Making conference (Lima, Peru 2013), which I reported in an earlier log (ENB bog 19 August 2013). My research interests relate to the way in which health professionals collaborate with children, young people and families through forming effective partnerships through the process of negotiation, empowerment and shared goal setting. I am particularly pleased to have had three publications that have focused on parents’ experiences of living with a child with a long-term condition and parent-professional collaboration.^1.2.3  On reflection although a successful year, it has not been without difficulties, in particulate responding to deadlines and ever increasing pressures on time. So what for the year head, more effective planning and time management are a must but I would also like the time to really consider the future directions for research in relation to collaborating with children, young people and families in the context of childhood long-term conditions. This is my last blog for this year, so here wishing you all a fantastic holiday season and prosperous new year.

Jo Smith, Senior Lecturer Children Nursing, University of Huddersfield, Associate Editor EBN

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¹Smith, J., Cheater, F., Bekker, H,. (2013) Parents’ experiences of living with a child with hydrocephalus: a cross sectional interview based study.  Health Expectations (online doi: 10.1111/hex.12106);

²Smith, J., Cheater, F., Bekker, H, Chatwin, J. (2013) Are parents and professionals making shared decisions about a child’s care on presentation of a suspected shunt malfunction: a mixed method study? Health Expectations (online doi: 10.1111/hex.12106);

³Smith, J., Cheater, F., Bekker, H. (2013) Parents’ experiences of living with a child with a long-term condition: a rapid structured review of the literature. Health Expectations (online doi: 10.1111/hex.12040);