Healthcare professionals today need to be able to care for acutely and chronically ill individuals of all ages. Traditional nursing training programs, which are oriented towards age groups, do not adequately prepare for this. The authors provide an overview of nursing education in Europe, the normative foundations of a generalist nursing education, as well as health and professional policy developments. Following a detailed introduction to existing modularization concepts, they develop and justify the concept of a future-oriented, generalist nursing education in modules. This concept allows for greater permeability in the education system and alignment with European educational standards.