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Views of history often seem to be inextricably intertwined with assumptions about past and present political systems and the kind of pressure groups they generate. This fact is important when comparing the history of nursing across different time periods. This paper addresses the relevance of the historical comparative method for nurse historians as it applies to remote area nursing in Australia. The method is an under-utilized but legitimate and important methodological approach in health research, particularly when the research involves more than just content analysis of documents from the past. Specifically, when researching the history of nursing in Australia across different time periods, this method has much to contribute to our understanding of health-care practice and policy. Its contribution lies in allowing a student of nursing history to find the lessons from the past, which are many in health care. The historical comparative research method provides the way for comparisons of certain times and events as they relate to the scope of practice of nursing today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]