The Ministerial Taskforce on Nursing: a struggle for control.

It is now ten years since the Ministerial Taskforce on Nursing released its report identifying the barriers that prevented nursing from realising its full potential. A key recommendation was the development of advanced clinical nursing roles that went beyond traditional and institutional boundaries. The constitution and work of the Taskforce is traced in this study, along with the struggle that arose between nursing groups for power to control the future of advanced nursing practice. The convergence of political discourses with those that were dominant in nursing during this period produced considerable tension and contributed to the eventual withdrawal of New Zealand Nurses Organisation representation from the Taskforce membership.