ABSTRACT
The creation of the National Health Service (NHS) had an important unifying impact on nursing. This chapter presents a critical assessment of the implications of Scottish devolution for nursing in the context of the wider development of the NHS. Health is one of the key areas of responsibility for the Scottish Parliament. Devolution and the prospect of a process of increased divergence between health services raises a number of challenging and interesting questions about the future of nursing not only within Scotland, but also in relation to the United Kingdom as a whole. Devolution is just one amongst many challenges that nurses and nursing face in the climate of change and uncertainty about the long term future of the NHS. The need for the kind of reform or modernisation was amplified by the war time demand for nursing services as part of a more integrated national hospital service that could cope with the influx of both civilian and military casualties.
