The majority of studies on adult career development and adult development have been based on male samples, which generated male models. When a woman's work was taken into consideration, it was frequently viewed narrowly as being either present or absent. The present study identified work patterns followed by female nurses now at midlife. Structured interviews were conducted with 47 midlife nurses aged 46 to 59 who graduated in the 1950s from one diploma school of nursing. The four work patterns that emerged from the data included the stable pattern, the double-track pattern, the interrupted pattern, and the unstable pattern.