Nursing: the European Economic Community dimension.

This paper is based on the Nursing Lecture 1977, delivered on the occasion of the Annual General Meeting of the Royal College of Nursing in London on November 23, 1977. The author traces the history and discusses the implications of the EEC Nursing Directives, put into the perspective of the nursing histories of the nine countries within the European Economic Community. She focuses, in particular, on the strengths of the nursing profession in the United Kingdom and argues that the Nursing Directives can lead to enhancement of nursing services and nursing education, better cooperation between health care professions and a stronger voice for the nursing profession, throughout the EEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]