Practice skills are at the heart of successful primary health care. They are used to channel the knowledge and expertise of nurses into care strategies that benefit patients. Practice skills contribute to our professional identity, what nurses do best, uniquely and to discernible effect. Our competence as a nurse and perhaps as an advanced practitioner of primary health care is often judged with reference to practice skills. It is important then to know how to investigate a chosen practice skill, determining what works well and what might yet be improved. This article examines the relevant areas of investigation and suggests that periodic skill review is a good example of professionalism at work in nursing.