For the past 10 years or more there has been an ongoing debate about community mental health (CMH) nursing. It is clearly important in any discourse about CMH nursing to begin by examining where this branch of nursing is at present, i.e. what route it has taken, as well as considering where it is destined to travel. The views expressed in this article are supported by a literature review undertaken as part of a research study into CMH nursing. The first and quantitative stage, which was completed in late 1995, and the second qualitative part of the study has now reached the data analysis stage. The preliminary findings from this study are discussed in this article.