Bringing together sociological theories and nursing practice, this study develops a dynamic conceptualization of the nursing role which is rooted in the work setting. It looks back to the factors which have shaped nursing work in the past and forward to those which are likely to shape it in the future. Nurses' work is changing in terms of the place nursing occupies in the health care division of labour, and in terms of the routine shifting of work boundaries that nurses experience in their daily work. Davina Allen draws on her detailed observations of the reality of nursing work in a district general hospital to explore these linked themes, focusing on five key work boundaries. This text offers a new way of thinking about the nursing role which is particularly relevant at a time when the scope of nursing practice is expanding and when the integrated approach to health and social care is seen as the key to provision and improved services.