The reason for the current problem may be because nursing is not, and cannot be, what it has been made, an intellectual activity to be discussed and analysed; it is primarily, and at its heart, a practical activity, lived out daily in real situations with people needing help. Nursing is not articulated, it is demonstrated by its authenticity. For, as nightingale taught, the best service a nurse can give unspoken. The patient is not aware of being nursed, because the best nursing leaves the patient without need.