Weaponised Concern: Moralised Discourses of Care as Mechanisms of Regulation in Professional Nursing

Workplace bullying in nursing is commonly defined through overt hostility, yet less visible forms of regulation often operate through the language of care itself. This paper examines how discourses of concern, kindness, and professionalism can function as mechanisms of moral regulation within professional nursing. Drawing on feminist critical theory, we introduce the concept of weaponised concern to describe how ostensibly benevolent expressions of worry about a colleague's well-being or coping may redirect attention away from substantive critique and towards the presumed psychological state of the speaker. In doing so, dissent is reframed as instability, and professional disagreement becomes pathologised rather than engaged. Situated within gendered expectations of emotional regulation and relational harmony in a predominantly female profession, these practices contribute to collective silencing, reputational harm, and the erosion of professional voice. Digital professional spaces further intensify these dynamics by amplifying and preserving insinuations framed as care. We argue that confronting workplace harm in nursing requires a critical examination of how moral virtues can be mobilised as instruments of control, shaping whose knowledge is legitimised and whose speech is disciplined within the profession.