Is Nursing Suffering an Identity Crisis?

What does it mean to be a nurse? In the past decade, we have all witnessed a massive shift in how nurses are educated, what being a nurse looks like, and an increase in the variety of locations where nurses can and do work. As I am out and about talking with nurse leaders and connecting with people on social media, I have come to realize our profession is experiencing an identity crisis. An identity crisis is a period of uncertainty and confusion where a person’s identity becomes insecure, typically due to a change in their expected aims or role in society. Historically, when people (even many nurses) think about the identity of a nurse, they picture the person in scrubs working in a hospital, nursing home, or clinic providing direct patient care to patients. However, the world has changed, and the roles nurses can fill have also changed, causing confusion and uncertainty for nurses and society. Working in direct patient care is one way to practice nursing, and today there are many more. Take Linda, for instance. She works full-time for a professional nursing organization at the national level, AND she is a nurse. Katie is a professor, an expert in simulation, and a nurse. Kirsten is a chief nursing officer for a hospital, an advocate for nurse satisfaction, and a nurse. Andrea is an entrepreneur building a business around helping nurses find and be successful working in various remote positions, and she is a nurse. The identity of our profession is changing. Nurses like Linda, Katie, Kirsten, Andrea, and countless others are redefining the boundaries of nursing, pushing our profession into uncharted territories. Nurses are no longer just caregivers; we are leaders, thinkers, entrepreneurs, and trailblazers. We are not defined by where we work or what we wear. As the boundaries of nursing continue to expand, let us embrace this evolution and redefine the identity of our profession together.