Looking after the mental health of children and young people is everybody’s business. Nurses working in primary and community care settings, in hospitals and in specialist child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) all have a part to play. However, there is robust evidence to suggest that pre-registration education does not adequately prepare nurses to work with children and young people with mental health difficulties. At both pre- and post-registration level, education and training opportunities are generally scarce. In a previous paper, we reviewed the development of child and adolescent mental health services in the UK (Davies et al 2002). We observed that, until recently, services have emerged in a patchy fashion, and have tended not to be seen as a priority area. We also discussed new developments in Wales, and in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan in particular. In this second paper we turn specifically to the issue of education and training. We begin with a discussion of the different levels of CAMHS provision, and on the work that different groups of nurses in different ‘tiers’ do in order to provide care for children and adolescents with mental health difficulties. We then concentrate specifically on the work of children’s nurses and the work of mental health nurses. We argue that, traditionally, the education of both child health and mental health nurses has tended not to emphasise the specific areas of skill and knowledge needed to care for young people experiencing mental health problems and their families. Finally, and as we did in our first paper, we turn to local developments in south Wales, and discuss how nurses’ awareness of child and adolescent mental health issues will be progressed through the new pre