The purpose of this paper is to explore and describe the process of transition that nurses experience when moving from the acute sector to a specialist area of community nursing. Issues explored include the increased movement of nurses into the community sector, the experience of culture shock and changes in nursing roles. Transition issues including the need for effective management and infrastructure support, mentoring and preceptorship, skills acquisition and continuing education will be examined. Joint implementation of what is successful at both university and industry levels can improve the transition to community nursing.