FROM TIME TO TIME, I have mouthed the platitude that the nursing profession as a whole is interested in changing many aspects of the current nursing situation. However, a number of villains variously cast as the public, patients, hospital administrators, or doctors oppose these legitimate aspirations. But the facts of the case are these: Most nurses are not overly concerned with the many problems and proposed changes which are frequently advanced by the leaders of our profession. Our problem in nursing is not with persuading outside groups as much as it is in persuading the majority of nurses of the need for various reforms in nursing. As has been said so often, "We are our own worst enemies." For instance, much heat and some light are being shed on the needs of nursing service as they must affect changing patterns in basic nursing education. And today there are a wide variety of educational pathways by which a young person may enter a career in nursing. Although these pathways are somewhat familiar to all nurses, their purposes and objectives are poorly understood by many of us. Our rapid proliferation of various nursing curriculums for the beginning nursing practitioner reflects the nation's need for a larger supply of nurses with more than one type of preparation. Unfortunately, this movement has provided a battleground for nurses, and we have joined one or another armed camp, depending on our educational preparation and nursing interest area. This failure of nurses to accept and to encourage curricular experimentation among the schools of nursing in this country has been a major reason for some of our present professional difficulties. While it is not unusual for groups of nurses to disagree with each other, it is unusual for nurses to be forthright and honest in identifying the issues, in meeting face-to-face to find workable solutions to these is