This fourth volume in the series "Pathways to Practice" presents the heart of the Southern Regional Education Board's Nursing Curriculum Project, which was designed to (1) develop a set of assumptions about societal systems that impinge on the environments of nursing, (2) determine broadly the future direction of health care delivery patterns, (3) determine the types and levels of nurses essential to the delivery system projected in the assumptions, (4) determine the characteristics of practice and thereby the competencies needed by each level and type of nurse provider envisioned, and (5) broadly define the body of nursing knowledge requisite for the development of the specified competencies in the graduate of differing programs. The five chapters cover (1) Nursing at the Crossroads: The Dilemmas, (2) Nursing: A Critical Subsystem in Health Care, (3) A Role Structure for Nursing: Kinds and Levels of Practice, (4) A Taxonomy of Nursing Competencies, and (5) An Overview of the Theoretical Framework. Appendix A (Core of Nursing Knowledge) presents characteristics of entry level positions in the nursing field; appendix B is a five-page chart of expanded role programs in nursing in the Southern Region and lists institutions (by state), program title, length of program, degree received, and the director. A roster of members contributing to the project and references are also included. (HD)