Teachers were 20 years ahead of nursing in committing professional suicide. In that case too it did not come from the ordinary members of the profession but from unions, gurus of theory and ideology. But much more worrisome is that quite different professions such as academe and law are also experiencing the same problems. Like nursing, it too was a calling to a certain life and character. The lawyer also had his twin responsibilities, to his client and to the calling of law itself.
Professions have several characteristics.
The more expertise, the better state the profession is in. Well, nursing today has more expertise than ever before, and so do law and academe. But professionally, they are in trouble. For becoming a nurse, professor, lawyer or doctor is not about acquiring a bunch of expert tricks but about becoming a certain sort of person with certain virtues. Indeed it's even more than that.