NurseCare · Nurses' care of the self as an ethical and political path towards social justice

Contemporary capitalist societies are facing a care crisis that exposes one of their most profound contradictions: although they rely on stable processes of social reproduction, they simultaneously undermine the very conditions that sustain them. Nurses represent a unique yet underexplored entry point for examining the current care crisis. Predominantly women, they embody a historically feminised profession whose labour is essential for sustaining lives of individuals and communities across the lifespan. Today, however, their professional and social status is deeply eroded, reflecting increasingly precarious working conditions that undermine their health, well-being and ability to provide care that is both ethical and socially just. Although they have historically been entrenched in a disempowered and oppressed identity, nurses are now leading an unprecedented wave of mobilisation at personal, organisational, and political levels, advocating not only for their patients but also for themselves. They are engaging in practices of care of the self that represent embodied ways of being and acting by which they are not only demanding better working conditions, but also raising their voices in a global call for the urgent need to re-situate care as the cornerstone of a more socially just and flourishing society for all. NurseCare will take an empirical, theoretical, and pragmatic approach to develop a critical understanding of the role of nurses in advancing social justice by examining the practices of care of the self through which they respond to and act upon the injustices they encounter at the point of care and beyond. This project will position the fellows as a leading and influential nurse researcher working to advance the nursing profession, promote nurses’ wellbeing, and advocate for a social justice approach in all nursing, health, and health care policies.