Nursing, Medicine and Primary Care

The juxtaposition of medical and nursing cultures is nowhere more evident than in primary care, the scene of recent and critical changes in policy which ostensibly mark a departure from a competitive market-oriented system of health care to one which promotes partnership. This text takes a broadly sociological perspective, analyzing the shifting boundaries between and within the professions of medicine and nursing in primary care. The ways in which ideas are used to justify role change and to establish and maintain professional identities are discussed. A cornerstone of the book's argument is an exploration of the scale and nature of uncertainties and vulnerability experienced by nurses and doctors in relation to boundary changes.