Fifty selected nursing activities were tested for importance to 300 hospitalized adults and 100 professional nurses involved in their care in three metropolitan hospitals. Activities studied covered four areas of patient care: 1) physical care in response to physiological needs; 2) psychosocial aspects of care: 3) observing, reporting, and implementing medical care; and 4) preparing for discharge. Participants rated each nursing action on a six-point scale, from “extreme importance” to “does not apply.” The study revealed that patients were more concerned than nurses in their physical care: nurses had greater concern than patients for satisfying psychosocial aspects of care: both nurses and patients highly agreed on the importance for the nurse to carry out the doctor's orders; and both test groups found preparation for discharge of relatively little importance. Implications of these findings for nursing practitioners and students are discussed.