title: Call to action for Scottish health care.
abstract: SCOTLAND'S NEWLY published strategy for nursing and midwifery, Caring for Scotland, is a reminder of how different professional life can be for nurses across the UK. For example, while developments in telehealth and telemedicine facilities are certainly not unique to the remote rural areas of Scotland, there can be few nurses who can claim to be the sole health professional on a non-doctor island. One such district nurse looks forward with optimism to seeing the effect of the World Health Organization pilot family health nursing programme on her professional credibility. Perhaps not surprisingly, there is a fair bit of emphasis on helping nurses who work in remote and rural areas to develop their practice.