The shortage of specialist trained nurses in the operating theatre and psychiatric care is a problem in Swedish health care. There is a great need for recruitment since in both areas nurses have a high average age and few students register in these specialties at university. The reason for the low interest for these specialties is not clear. The purpose of the study was to investigate nurses' and nurse students' conceptions of the professional role of operating theatre and psychiatric care nurses. A qualitative approach with phenomenographic method was used. Twelve nurses and four nurse students were interviewed. Three categories of conceptions within each specialty emerged. Operating theatre nurses' professional role was perceived as: Dependent assistant, Responsible monitor and Fragmented nurse. Psychiatric nurses' professional role was perceived as: Empathetic agent, Conscious diplomat and Fragmented nurse. The informants had difficulties in understanding the professional role in both fields. One conclusion is that the theoretical and clinical training in basic nurse education play an important role for choosing specialist training as operating theatre nurse or psychiatric nurse.