Debbie McGirr trained and worked as an RGN in Newcastle before moving to Edinburgh to undertake post-registration Sick Children's Nursing (RSCN) course.  She worked across a variety of settings (acute medical/ITU/HDU) before moving into the community to undertake her BA Community Health and District Nursing qualification.  She set up the REACT palliative care service at RHSC Edinburgh and worked as a community paediatric palliative care nurse across the east of Scotland.  She then moved into teaching to be the part-time discipline leader for the national Community Children's Nursing Degree (Specialist Practitioner Qualification) at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh before taking up a full time post in child health nursing education at Edinburgh Napier University.  Debbie took a break from education to develop the community children's nursing service in Fife as the team manager before returning to Edinburgh Napier to further develop her career in Higher Education.