[In the threshold of European convergence]

At the present time, Spanish universities are immersed in a process of profound change in their educational structures and Programs of Degree Study which affects each and every one of the university disciplines. Nursing Studies must adapt to the demands imposed by the European Union Superior Studies Professional Development, which means degrees shall be granted at three levels corresponding to Bachelors, Postgraduate and Doctorate degrees. The sum of accumulated efforts has opened the way to what we have today, a licentiate in Health Sciences project; a project not without its difficulties, but one which must be viewed as a further step in our most recent history towards a process of growth in our discipline and in the development of our profession. The degree of licentiate in Health Sciences should be seen as part of a strategy to attain convergence with the European norms, while bearing in mind that Spanish universities offer Europe a university model in which there already is a degree equivalent to Bachelors level or at least a first level university degree, the "Diplomado" in Nursing, as well as an equivalent postgraduate degree, the university second cycle degrees, which are independent of the other alternative degrees which may be offered in the future.