Children's nursing education: 'the future characterised by paradoxes'.

According to Healthcare Futures 2010 (Warner et al 1998) the future for the nursing and midwifery professions will be characterised by a series of paradoxes. There will be 'a growing emphasis on prevention, yet a great demand for cure and palliation; public reliance upon professionalism within the workforce, yet greater lay assertiveness; a greater demand for technical competence and scientific rationality among nurses and midwives, yet a continuing need for traditional nursing qualities and the time to express them' (Warner et al 1998). If these projections hold true there are significant implications for nursing and midwifery education. This article provides a summary of the development of nurse education and uses the three paradoxes identified to reflect on the past and the present and explore the future of children's nursing education.