Political leadership and the politics of nursing.

This article provides a critical examination of the concept of political leadership as it has recently developed in the field of nursing, arguing that despite its undoubted usefulness, there are important issues that it obscures. Using five guiding questions, it is proposed that a focus on political leadership is inward-looking and individualizing. It encourages a view of the profession as immature and it emphasizes separation instead of alliance formation. An alternative perspective starting from an assumption that nursing operates in a position of cultural and structural disadvantage is proposed. A close analysis of the government's strategy for nursing in England confirms the continuing cultural ambiguity that surrounds nursing. This enables a number of questions to be posed concerning where nursing fits in relation to current health policy on workforce change and raises doubts about just how far the historical neglect of nursing in policy arenas has been overcome.