EDITORIAL 5

Nurses are now considered ‘knowledge workers’.How our knowledge is developed and perpetuatedto new generations of nurses and the discipline is the cause of ongoing concern (DEST 2002). From within an international context (Australia and Canada), Borbasi and Caelli, in our guest editorial, debate the nexus between a research agenda and academia (knowledge production) and the risks that having such a road map can have on practice. These matters are of importance to the image nursing portrays to the public and policy makers, and the capacity nurses have for participating in the larger health agenda of a nation. The recent challenges faced by nurses in Queensland in speaking out against poor medical practice (BRNM 2005), for example, highlight the complexities of participation and the potential consequences of inaction. However, journalist Suzanne Gordon, in conversatio