Based on substantial new research and drawing on government and professional records, The Politics of Nursing Knowledge looks at how nurse education has been shaped by wider social attitudes towards gender and class. In a critical reappraisal of Florence Nightingale's vision of nursing, Anne Marie Rafferty explores the implications of Nightingale's belief that nursing training should be regarded as an education of character rather than an intellectual discipline. Analysing the relationship between nursing and associated professions, the author traces the evolution of training and policy-making from the origins of hospital reform in the 1860s to the start of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948. Examining the contemporary issues affecting nursing, The Politics of Nursing Knowledge questions the extent to which the notion of a 'profession' is compatible with the career patterns and lifestyle opportunities of the majority of nurses, who are women. Looking to the future of nursing as an academic discipline, the final chapter asks whether an intellectually self-confident culture can emerge or whether the contradictions of professionalism and the health care system will prevent nursing from achieving its full potential.