The nature of nursing and the education of the nurse*

The current scrutinies and criticisms of organized health services are discussed as an introduction to the need for change. The care/cure dichotomy in the nurse's role is focused on and the dearth of community nursing developments noted, as are the pathology-orientated hospital-centered nursing education programmes. The author believes that nursing needs to go forward and develop in depth the body of nursing knowledge and technology. This will require radical reforms of nursing education organization in Europe. But the author is enthusiastic about the possibilities of developments resulting from the extension of nursing education courses in European universities and institutes of higher education.