This month's issue features a continuing education offering focused on strategies related to child and adolescent immunization. "Immunizations are safe, cost-effective and promote and protect public health. Countless lives have been saved by vaccines," writes CE author Mary Koslap-Petraco, NP. "It is up to every nurse practitioner to learn all they can to provide vaccines and to respond to the questions and concerns of parents."

Among those concerns are vaccine safety and why some vaccines are even necessary. Koslap-Petraco provides practical guidance about how to handle these and other questions.

In other content this month, Pamela B. Egan, NP, shares nutrition interventions for healthy aging. Egan is the owner of an integrative practice in Covington, La., and she has earned status as a diplomat of the American Board of Anti-Aging Health Practitioners. She explains that because a high percentage of U.S. adults and children don't obtain adequate nutrients from dietary sources, the use of nutritional supplements is an important health strategy.

"Nutrient status is a foundation of health," she writes. "Each micronutrient plays in indispensable role in promoting optimal cell function." Her article explains how to recommend appropriate and effective nutritional supplements for patients.

Finally, I'd like to let you know that this issue is the final edition of ADVANCE for Nurse Practitioners. Next month, we'll be communicating with you in a new peer-reviewed journal called ADVANCE for NPs & PAs. This new journal is designed to meet the clinical and professional information needs of nurse practitioners and physician assistants, with a unique emphasis on workplace and workforce issues affecting both professions. You'll find peer-reviewed scientific articles, continuing education offerings, timely explorations of practice issues and much more. We'll feature new columns on healthcare reform, the business of healthcare, and the NP and PA job market, plus fresh and lively approaches to statistics, trends and news. And on the new ADVANCE for NPs & PAs website, we'll provide avenues for professional interaction and sharing, as well as resource centers housing information specific to each profession.

The new ADVANCE for NPs & PAs will be free to nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Sign up for your subscription now by visiting www.advanceweb.com/nppa.

-Michelle Perron Pronsati, Editor