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Discusses the merits and demerits of performance‐related pay (PRP) with respect to nursing in the NHS but concludes that justification for it remains unproven through the absence of hard evidence in support of its efficiency. Sees previous experience of the practicalities of implementing PRP and the fear that it will be neither cheap nor effective in solving “productivity” problems as hostile to its introduction in the NHS.

Discusses labour market characteristics for nurses, competing demand for nurses and the role of pay in nursing labour markets, in the light of a recent report. Examines the relevance of current plans for decentralization and the possible demise of the review body.

The process of industrial relations which has developed in the offshore catering industry is not significantly different from that evident in conventional onshore‐based unionised industries. Data obtained as part of a survey of industrial relations in the Grampian region (1982) covering five of the nine offshore catering companies in the Northern Sector of the North Sea, show that such companies operate in an atypical industrial environment represented by unusual work/lifestyle patterns. A two‐tier system has evolved to meet the communication requirements of a transient and scattered workforce: the management‐workforce relationship in offshore installations being informal, while the onshore relationship between management and trade union officials is far more formal. While the adoption of collective bargaining in this industry is a fairly recent happening, it can be readily explained in terms derived from “traditional” British industry.

Examines in detail the issue of absence among nurses in the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK. Three main objectives are to: investigate levels and reasons for absence among nurses; assess the abilities of NHS management to monitor and control nurse absence effectively; and examine the impact of nurse absence on organizational costs and care delivery. Draws on data generated from four linked studies: a survey of back‐injured nurses, conducted in 1992; a survey of 4,000 qualified nurse members of the Royal College of Nursing, conducted in March/April 1993; a postal survey of 119 NHS employing units, conducted in May/June 1993; and detailed case studies, conducted with management in ten NHS hospital sites in May/June 1993.

Nurse banks are locally organized in‐house sources of temporary nursing staff. Reports on a study of policy and practice in the management of nurse banks in the National Health Service in Scotland. The study was based on a census survey of all 55 NHS units in Scotland (100 per cent response rate). Examines management rationales in establishing a nurse bank, explores costs and benefits of managing a bank, and provides recommendations on good practice in maintaining continuity of care.

New Zealand is not alone in facing challenges for the building and sustaining of a future health workforce that can meet the needs of a diverse population. In this article, the author describes how New Zealand has begun to build on models developed from the UK and elsewhere to attend to workforce issues in the child and adolescent mental health and addictions sector. The workforce planning development model being implemented by the Werry Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health has a solid pedigree, with a very New Zealand focused process for implementation.

This paper considers future developments for Addictions Nursing. The aim of this paper is to provide a personal vision of two possible developments for Addictions Nurses, which will promote greater global working and improve the care received by service users and communities. The paper addresses the threats to public health posed by substance misuse, the wide number of diverse roles nurses undertake in addressing the problems which arise, and makes a number of suggestions about the development of nursing to maximise its impact on public health. The paper makes a number of recommendations:▪ promote international collaboration to develop the effectiveness of Addictions Nurses — by the strategic use of Work‐Based Learning and Rotation Schemes via ‘The Spiral of Excellence Model of Rotation Schemes’ (www.nurserotation.com)▪ promote international collaboration to develop Addiction Nurse prescribing using the ‘ABC Model of Addictions Nurse Prescribing’▪ Network Addictions Nurse Organisations — use the ‘AMM‐IN’ model of working, and support the work of The International Network of Nurses (TINN) Interested in Alcohol, Tobacco and Drug Misuse (www.tinnurses.org)▪ actively influence ICN, WHO, UN to promote public health approaches to substance misuse▪ promote service user and carer involvement in decision‐making▪ challenge the ‘divide and conquer’ approach to substance misuse — ‘tobacco, alcohol or drugs model of disease promotion yet again’ ie the ‘TAD‐DPY’ approach▪ actively challenge short‐termism in strategic workforce development, and in particular the ‘AM‐HRD’ model of human resource development.

This article examines the locus of power in the large corporation (The East India Company) over a 125 year period and the career paths of two of its dominant players (Laurence Sulivan and James Mill). Sulivan embodies the character of such modern powerful leaders as Jack Welch and Lee Iacocca. Mill represents the modern power broker associated with the “technostructure”. What gave rise to the technostructure? What were the qualities of Sulivan and Mill which allowed them to dominate the organization? These are two of the questions investigated.