This article considers data from a qualitative study of discipline and misconduct in nursing. It outlines the ways in which the study can inform our understanding of changes in the control of nursing work. Specifically it considers evidence for work intensification in nursing and contrasts this with policy pronouncements, which have proclaimed that nurses have been empowered by recent changes. The study found that empowerment often implied increased responsibility accompanied by tightened control. Some nurses described their managers as ‘seagull’ managers and the article elaborates what was meant by that term. The four key features of seagull management were: distance, distrust, destructive criticism, and a defensive culture.

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This article examines the disciplinary process in nursing using data drawn from qualitative cases studies carried out in three healthcare Trusts in the north of England.The main method of data collection employed in the cases studies was in depth interviews with managers, nurses and trade union representatives.The study considers the models of discipline employed by managers when making the decision to discipline, the conduct of disciplinary cases and their outcomes.The study pays particular attention to ‘quasi-formal’ discipline in which investigative processes may be used as punishments.The study also considers the poor outcomes of disciplinary action and their relationship to the ways in which disciplinary processes are conducted.

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