There has been recent recognition in the literature, and a longer standing awareness amongst clinicians, that critically ill patients are to be found outside of intensive care units. These patients are not always well managed and some have concluded that their care is 'suboptimal' [Br. Med. J. 316 (1998) 1853] and that they die of preventable clinical problems [Extremes of Age: the 1999 Report of the National Confidential Enquiry into Perioperative Deaths (1999) NCEPOD]. Whilst the cause of this situation in the NHS probably involves a complex interplay of factors including failures in management, policy and the evidence/information base for practice, education failures have also been blamed. In response the government has mandated formal critical care education for ward nurses [Comprehensive Critical Care: a Review of Adult Critical Care Services (2000) Department of Health]. In this two-part paper, the literature around education for ward-based critical care is examined (Part 1) prior to a report of the findings (Part 2) of a case study exploring the everyday practices, context and culture of an acute surgical ward where seriously ill patients were cared for prior to the introduction of a critical care outreach service (Part 2). Implications for practice, education and future research are discussed.