Abstract: This study investigates the induction of comprehensive Nurses into a professional culture during their polytechnic education and the first year of Hospital practise. A critical theory framework combined with case study method is used to demonstrate the ways in which social forces constrain individual and professional action. It is argued that a more socially critical approach to the design of Nursing curricula might begin to transform some of the social structures which presently inhibit and constrain the professional choices and actions of student and graduate Nurse