Happy holidays-it is hard to imagine we are through the beginning of school and already into the trauma holidays. We all know that there can be a lot of sad trauma in our communities and we have to pay special attention to our staff. Compassion fatigue can be especially prevalent over the holiday season and one of our most important jobs is to take care of our own.

This journal is dedicated to our nurse practitioner colleagues. We respect their hard work, dedication, and compassion; what they bring to our trauma team and the trauma service; and what they bring to our patients and families too. As resident work hours got complicated, many organizations looked to advance practice nurses to bridge that new gap in service-and, what a beautiful job they have done in so many cases.

Nurse practitioners bring a depth of experience and also bring their nursing skills to the bedside of the patient. Their expertise in education and bedside care bring comfort to our patients and families. The Society of Trauma Nurses (STN) has tremendous respect for these integral members of our trauma team. We have been working diligently to improve the services we offer to these team members and have strengthened our relationship with the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma who also recognizes the important work that practitioners bring to the trauma team. Depending on your role on the trauma team, the STN has classes available to you to make you a stronger team player. Advanced Trauma Care for Nurses (ATCN) is an excellent course-it mirrors Advanced Trauma Life Support and offers nursing CEU credits. OPTIMAL educates on trauma systems and expectations for trauma centers and how they fit into the whole system. And, Trauma Outcomes and Process Improvement Course offers a depth of knowledge on performance improvement and patient safety, which is integral to excellent trauma care.

We hope that our advance practice members will consider joining the STN on their Advance Practice Special Interest Group (SIG). There are also other SIGs that may be of interest-Rural Trauma Care or Injury Prevention would be great places to share your perspective and expertise.

We hope that everyone has marked the annual conference on your calendars. Join the STN and your trauma colleagues for several days in sunny Florida networking and influencing trauma care across the globe. The STN has something for all members, and we hope you get involved and have a direct impact on patient care and trauma systems. Visit our Web site at http://www.traumanurses.org to find out how to get involved, to get more information on the annual conference, to join the list serve, or just to see what the organization can do for you.

The STN wishes all of our members and journal readers a very happy and safe holiday.