By Dr. Schola Matovu | Nursing Professor | Nurse Scientist | Director of Global Learning and Engagement
There is a question in nursing that we do not ask often enough—but should:
Who are we?
Not just in terms of roles, credentials, or settings, but in how we understand ourselves—and how that understanding shapes what we believe is possible.
Like many nurses, I entered this profession with a simple intention: to help people. It is a powerful and meaningful foundation, one that continues to define the heart of nursing. But over time, I began to realize that this definition—while important—is incomplete.
Because helping people does not only happen at the bedside.
And yet, many of us are never encouraged to see beyond it.
The Identity We Inherit
Nursing has long been associated with care, compassion, and service. These values are central to the profession and have shaped its legacy across generations. But alongside them, we have also inherited a more limiting narrative—that nurses are primarily defined by bedside care, and that leadership, research, policy, and systems-level work exist outside of that identity.
This creates a quiet but powerful tension.
Across my career—from bedside practice to research, education, and leadership—I have seen how this narrow framing affects how nurses view themselves. I have heard comments like:
- “Oh, you left nursing.”
- “You went to the dark side.”
- “You don’t really care about patients anymore.”
These statements reflect more than opinion. They reveal a deeper issue: when identity is narrowly defined, growth can feel like departure rather than expansion.
But leadership is not leaving nursing.
It is expanding what nursing can be.
The System Behind the Story
Nursing does not exist in isolation. It operates within broader systems shaped by hierarchy, culture, and long-standing norms. These systems influence how nurses are perceived—and how we perceive ourselves.
In some spaces, particularly in global conversations, I have observed ongoing debates about tradition, professional identity, and even appearance. While history matters, holding too tightly to outdated definitions can limit how we evolve as a profession.
Even more concerning are the internal dynamics that sometimes reinforce these limits. When mentorship is replaced with gatekeeping, when new voices are discouraged rather than developed, we perpetuate the very constraints we seek to overcome.
This is where change must begin.
Not only in systems—but within the profession itself.
Expanding the Meaning of “Helping”
One of the most important shifts in my own journey has been redefining what it means to help.
At the bedside, helping is immediate and visible—care, comfort, clinical skill, presence.
But beyond the bedside, helping takes many forms:
- Generating evidence as a nurse scientist
- Improving systems through research and quality improvement
- Advocating for patients in policy spaces
- Educating and mentoring future nurses
- Leading organizations and influencing health systems
Each of these is nursing. Each is care. Each is impact.
And yet, we often elevate one while diminishing the others.
The Leadership Gap
Globally, nurses represent the majority of the health workforce, yet remain underrepresented in leadership and decision-making roles.
This is not just a structural issue—it is an identity issue.
If nurses do not see themselves as leaders, systems will not see them that way either.
Leadership is not something we step into later in our careers. It begins with how we define ourselves now—before we enter the room, before we take the seat at the table.
Representation begins with self-definition.
Naming Ourselves Fully
One of the more complex aspects of professional identity in nursing relates to how we introduce ourselves.
As a PhD-prepared nurse scientist, I have navigated moments where introducing myself as “Doctor” required clarification. I have also experienced hesitation—both internally and externally—around fully owning that title.
But clarity should not require self-minimization.
We can say:
- I am a nurse
- I am a scientist
- I am a leader
- I am a doctor
These identities are not contradictory. They are complementary.
Owning them fully is part of advancing the profession.
The Cost of Self-Minimization
Perhaps one of the most harmful phrases still heard in nursing is:
“I’m just a nurse.”
It may be said casually, even humbly—but its impact is significant. It diminishes the expertise, influence, and authority of an entire profession.
More importantly, it shapes what we believe we are allowed to become.
If we see ourselves only as caregivers at the bedside, we may never pursue systems leadership.
If we see ourselves only as followers within hierarchy, we may never challenge it.
But when we begin to see ourselves as knowledge holders, advocates, and leaders, something shifts.
The profession expands.
And so do we.
A Call to Reimagine
This is not a call to move away from care. It is a call to redefine it more fully.
Nursing is not static. It is a profession of continuous growth, shaped by those willing to question, evolve, and lead.
So the question becomes:
Who are we willing to be?
Because identity is not just how we describe ourselves.
It is how we decide to show up in the world.
And the future of nursing depends on nurses who are not only skilled—but fully self-defined, fully present, and fully empowered to lead.