Abstract
The development of nursing as a 'métier' and the consequences this development may have for the legitimacy of the nursing profession, is focus for this article. Did nursing's pioneers have greater 'professional' independence than we do today? Is nursing about to become an instruction-based undertaking? If so, how will this affect nursing as an autogenous profession? Two claims will be discussed. One concerns the relationship between attitudes, professionalism, and learning: Today we tend to take wished-for professional attitudes for granted; one assumes that everyone has coinciding attitudes. This may lead to professional stagnation. My other contention is that there seems to be a misconception as to what the philosophy of care may offer as source for professional thought. From a one-sided and narrow-minded viewpoint this philosophy may be construed as 'relational ethics'. It is so much more. Among other things it may contribute to greater insight into and better utilisation of knowledge in the practical setting, something that may enhance our understanding and help us make action choices of a more professional character.