Contemporaneous nursing: a conclusion to the 2008 series

This 2008 series has sought to identify, discuss and analyse two issues that confront nurses in the 21st century. First, the legal duty of care that all healthcare professionals and other workers owe has been reflected on in the context 'standards'. The question asked was that of how differently the legal principle, from the political expectation, is identified and applied in practice by nurses and other healthcare providers. The second issue was professional regulation. By considering the political expectations placed on nurses and others it has been possible to trace the ways in which the Government has sought to assert increasing direct control on nursing as an aspect of healthcare provision, and on the behaviour of nurses as providers. This article explores how while the law directly influences nursing behaviours, its influence is not always obvious or clear. The emergence of a clear political direction, set by those who are not necessarily members of the nursing profession, has consequences, consequences that this series has sought to identify and analyse. In juxtaposition to the contents of government literature, experiences of nurses as the people most likely to have been affected by the changes have been recognized. A polarization of expectation has been identified between those in positions of control over change, and those who cannot separate themselves from other elements of their lives (e.g. domestic responsibilities). This last article seeks to reassure nurses that their professionalism is not in doubt. The changes are in the clinical domain of care provision, in the ways in which practice is applied and the needs of patients measured and assured.