Planning the journal's future – have your say

Abstract

This quality is evident in the current edition which has some important work emphasising the needs of children and young people with diabetes.

In the study of Viklund and Örtqvist we see yet further evidence that some young people still struggle with the psychological burden of the disease. This seems to be a constant finding in research of this population. While the authors suggest more screening for the impact of diabetes on quality of life, it also seems to be an imperative to try and target those with most difficulty and provide much more effective psychosocial interventions. In the future more studies of intervention would be important and very welcomed by this journal.

In the study of Tiberg et al we have a comparison of hospital and home based support for newly diagnosed children with diabetes. The study shows that overall the two models are equivalent, although there may be enhanced satisfaction in the home based group. However, we should consider the translational impact of this study. Given that care provision is so variable between countries, we need more consideration of the common principles that impact on the way we support children and parents at diagnosis so these can be applied in different settings. We might also explore the economic benefits of different models.

The study by Munster et al focuses on a specific clinical problem that of hyperlipotrophy in children. The analysis highlights some important clinical take away points and in particular the need for effective site rotation practices.

Finally, we have an example of a different kind of article that the journal has promoted, the clinical review. These papers provide state of the art updates on important and sometimes quite complex topics. In this edition we have a review on cystic fibrosis and diabetes from Marshall and Caraher. The paper highlights the many challenges of managing diabetes in this population, alongside some important strategies for dealing with those problems. Again it is the inclusion of such material that hopefully makes the journal of interest and highlights its importance as a means to disseminate knowledge.

So within this edition we have some clear evidence of why the journal is important to the professionof diabetes nurses. However, it is also clear that the journal has scope to develop further and become more important to the diabetes nursing community across Europe.

The journal currently has a preponderance of papers from the Nordic countries and the UK. It would be greatly enhanced if we could have more high quality submission from elsewhere in Europe. While in part this may reflect the lack of investment in research infrastructure for diabetes nurses across Europe and the increasingly tight funding environment, it is incumbent on all professional groups to take responsibility to ensure that they generate the knowledge necessary to improve the quality of the care they deliver. Hence, we need to engage with you all to determine how the journal and the wider community of nurses in diabetes can make this happen.

The journal will go on and we aim to continue to expand from the platform we have developed with Wiley. The form of the new journal is currently being considered. We are committed to making the journal important for clinical research in diabetes nursing, but we also need to hear from you to ensure that the journal meets your needs. Therefore, we will be sending you all as FEND members an e-mail with link to a survey on the future of the journal. Please show solidarity in this by completing it. We will of course also let you know the future format and location for the journal, we also encourage you to continue submitting papers to the journal in transition.