It's nearly 30 years since I wrote my first book on the 'nursing process'. At the time it was the talking point of nursing and considered to be the way forward for the profession in the UK and Europe. The subject had already been implemented in the USA, and there was some resentment at the time that Britain was going to have to follow America. In fact, Professor Jean McFarlane (the first English Professor of Nursing) had given a seminar in the Department of Nursing at the University of Manchester in 1973, relating to the importance of evaluating nursing practice. As part of her paper she proposed that the department should experiment with the nursing process. This it did, firstly in planning nursing care in its course leading to the Diploma in Advanced Nursing Studies for experienced registered nurses. It was then gradually introduced into the undergraduate programme.