An article in the Journal of Advanced Nursing (JAN) (2007, 58, 4, 368-76), proposed that specialist nursing services are shaped by national policy rivers which may not be directly linked to the needs of older people. Our experts discuss whether they consider the development of such services to be headed in the right direction

The profession needs to identify where specialist nursing expertise fits in

In the JAN article, Dr Jan Reed Professor of Health Care for Older People at Northumbria University, and colleagues argue that the everyday activities of specialist nurses for older people seem to be driven by policies, resources and the personal characteristics of the individual nurse, rather than ideas of universal service user needs or wishes. They struggle to fit existing posts with theories about nursing older people, and the implications for education and training.