ABSTRACT
In this chapter I draw on sociological theories of the division of labour and the insights of feminist scholars to develop a non-essentialist conceptualization of the nursing role that is rooted in the work setting. My aim is to construct an analytic framework that can help us to understand the evolution of nursing as an occupation and its place within the division of labour in society, but which also provides the necessary theoretical tools to explicate the fine grain of workplace processes and the experiences of individual practitioners. In order to comprehend the dilemmas and contradictions of nursing work and to understand why nurses accomplish their work boundaries in the shape that they do, I wanted a perspective that recognized the volitional aspects of human action but was also cognisant of local, structural and historical constraints on agency.
