Individual nurse empowerment: A concept analysis

This concept analysis aims to distinguish the concept of nurse empowerment as an individual professional process rather than a job-related process and to identify ways in which a clarified understanding of individual empowerment can impact the discipline.

The history of nursing as a gendered role has led to oppression in the profession as evidenced by lateral violence and attrition. Empowerment initiatives that focus on a nurse within an organization often provide false power.

Walker and Avant's method was used for this concept analysis.

Published literature from 1990 to 2019 was identified from electronic health profession-related databases, and current definitions and uses of empowerment were pulled from empirical works and electronic databases.

A review of abstracts and full text from articles relating to nurse empowerment was performed, and empirical studies used to provide an understanding of the concept as used today.

True empowerment entails a nurse controlling her practice and career. Elements of individual empowerment can be pulled from existing work on structural and psychological empowerment.

Analyzing nurse empowerment from an individual perspective allows us to move beyond the oppressive history of nursing and move the profession forward to impact our communities.