[From vocation to discipline]

This article looks at the history of nursing care in relation to modern-day nurse theorists' concepts of a professional nursing identity. In her discussion of the history of female caregivers and the nursing profession, the author attempts to show that by shifting nursing care from the concept of a vocation to a so-called scientific concept, nurses have failed to resolve their identity problem. The author maintains that the reason for this failure stems from the early days of the profession when line managers ignored the tradition of caregiving, rather than using it as the basic rationale of the nursing profession. This former tradition had caregivers using medicinal herbs, preparing home remedies, performing minor surgery, helping women during childbirth (midwifery), accompanying the dying and helping the poor. The author concludes that nurses would benefit from greater awareness of their profession's historical roots. This would in turn give them a clearer understanding of the type of services they are capable of delivering to the public.