Nursing: A Social Policy Statement was intended to provide nurses with a fresh perspective on practice while providing society with a view of nursing for the 1980s. The overall intent of this document was to call to consciousness the linkages between the profession and society. While the Social Policy Statement is considered by many (see, for example, Rodgers, 1991; Packard & Polifroni, 1991; Allen, 1987; White, 1984) to be outdated, we find the concept of the social contract to be useful when studying the relationship of nurse to nursed. As the foundation for professions, the social contract, while understood to be an "hypothetical ideal" (Silva, 1983, p. 150), is also an expression of a people recognizing (1) the presence of a basic need and (2) the existence of greater knowledge and skill available to meet that need than can be readily exercised by each member of the society. Society at large then calls for commitment by a segment of society to the acquisition and use of this knowledge and skill for the good of all. Social goods are promised in return for this commitment. Today, the profession of nursing is moving from a social contract relationship toward a covenantal relationship between the nurse and nursed. While the social contract implies an impersonal, legalistic stance, the covenantal relationship emphasizes personal engagement and ever present freedom to choose commitments. Cooper (1988), for example, discusses her ideas on the relevance of covenantal relationships for nursing ethics. She states "the promissory nature of the covenant is contained in the willingness of individuals to enter a covenental relationship" (p. 51) and it is within this context that obligations arise. As caring persons, we "see" relationship (covenant) and honor the bond between self and other. The ultimate knowledge gained from this perspective is that we are related to one another (and to the universe) and that harmony (brotherhood and sisterhood) is present as we live out caring relationships. Concepts of discipline and profession have been dismissed by critical theorists as oppressive, anachronistic, and paternalistic (Allen, 1985; Rodgers, 1991). In our study however, as we have explored essential meanings of these concepts, we have found that they express fundamental values congruent with cherished nursing values. Although we can agree with critical theorists that discipline and profession have been misused, perhaps too frequently, as tools of social elitism and oppression, this misuse remains inappropriate because it violates the covenantal nature of discipline and profession.