ABSTRACT
Professional society is based on merit, but some acquire merit more easily than others.1
District nursing has been referred to throughout this book as a subprofession of nursing with frequent reference to its complex professional relationships, in particular, those with other members of the communitycare team: the HVs, the midwives and village nurse-midwives, and the GPs. This chapter examines the meaning and implications of profession and professional, particularly as applied to district nursing and the district nurse working in the community health care context, and how this might relate to a wider nursing and medical field. It explores the contested roles that were outlined chronologically in Part I before going on to highlight what this suggests about the changing perceptions that differentiate the generalist and specialist, and what this reveals to us about the hierarchy of related professions.
