ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors present data from a project, which explores the gap between the culture and the ideals and images projected by the nursing profession. In the project special attention is paid to discussing sources of motivational energy and renewal. A brief glance at the images projected by the nursing profession indicates a growing tension between the values portrayed as important by the profession on the one hand, and by youth culture on the other. In the year 2000 a new National Curriculum for Nursing was introduced in Norway based on an ethos of care. Nursing has an advantage over other occupations in the sense that it can easily be adapted to other activities and play a major or minor role in life depending on circumstances. The concept of care, and the ideals and images it projects, constitutes a core within the nursing profession.
