The good old days of nurse training: Rose-tinted or jaundiced view?

As a profession we are disadvantaged with a descriptive verb for what we do—namely nursing! Many people feel that nursing is common sense, a trait with which you are born, that the caring woman next door can do it expertly and that kindness, respect and compassion are the main criteria for becoming a nurse. In the 21st century, these traits are important but they do not make a competent and professional nurse. To meet present and future health and social care challenges, nurses must also be analytical, assertive, creative, competent, confident, computer literate, decisive, reflective, embracers of change and the critical doers and consumers of research. Copyright © 2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd