Book excerpt: This book examines the division of labour between nurses and other health professions and occupations. It connects classic sociological concerns with practical problems affecting the contemporary NHS, such as: skill-mix in hospitals; the emergence of new roles; the shifting boundaries between medicine and nursing; and the barriers to change that exist. The book contains a series of case studies illustrating tensions, conflict and accommodation observable when occupations, or sub-groups within occupations, negotiate new working relationships.