Despite wide disparities of political support, material resources, and systems of initial education, there exists an increasing global recognition that the level of nursing education has a close relationship with access to and quality of care. Still, individual nations also maintain alternative ways of educating nurses that are rooted in strong traditions. This paper explores the systems in China and Egypt. These countries have important differences. Education in China, for example, has been more heavily influenced by models from the United States, whereas Egypt has looked to those from Britain and France. Most striking, however, is what they now share. Both countries’ systems of nursing education are now clearly located in an increasingly global world of health, and health care that recognizes that a more educated nursing workforce remains the critical component of any initiative to better meet health care needs.