The attitude a nurse has towards a patient is one of the most important factors influencing the standard of care patients receive. But a nurse's attitudes to patients are influenced by the attitudes of senior and junior staff. Attitudes between staff and attitudes of staff to patients are, in reality, indivisible and both impinge on the patient. This report is an account of what took place at six meetings which were attended by all grades of nursing staff. It shows some of the problems that such a widely representative group of people faced when they came together to discuss a question of attitudes.