Vital Signs: Nursing in Transition

This text examines changes in nursing work, arguing that it is "women's work" both in the sense that the majority of those who do the work are women, and because the skills and relations involved are those most characteristic of women's work.

The first chapter looks at the historical developments that have led to the current conditions and relations of nursing.

The second examines the role of technology in structuring this work and the final chapter analyzes some nurses' recent struggles for change.

The book makes a case for women's nursing work to be understood within the context of the political economy, encompassing the household, the formal economy and the state.