A comparative analysis of the relationships between nursing service, education and finance

The last few decades of the 20th century have brought considerable social, political and economic changes spawned by momentous scientific and technological advances. The amount of available knowledge continues to multiply at a staggering pace. No country or profession has been able to escape the impact of this knowledge explosion; however, the UK and British nursing has had to cope with more than their fair share of change. This article considers the developments in nursing over the past few decades to the present day, with particular reference to service provision, education and financing issues. It argues that nurses and nurse educators need to be more proactive in setting the agenda for nursing’s future development otherwise nursing is in danger of sacrificing its core traditional values.