Here’s Why You Can Stop Saying You’re a Nurse Just Because You Care

Yes, we care deeply for our patients—it’s a fundamental part of being a nurse. However, what truly drives us is the ability to do good work. We thrive in environments where we’re empowered to deliver care that reflects our identity as high-quality, professional healthcare providers.

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What motivates us?

Our motivation stems from pride in our professional abilities, not from chasing organizational metrics. We are driven by the desire to end each shift knowing we’ve delivered meaningful, high-quality work. Our vision encompasses not only the care we provide for our patients but also the critical elements of a high performance environment: trusting and feeling valued by management, being well resourced, receiving fair compensation, and having the ability to take breaks and disconnect when needed. We show up to work every day as idealists, believing that maybe this next shift holds the potential for our vision to become a reality.

But here’s the thing: if we let the current rhetoric guide us, we’d show up simply because we care about our patients. That would imply we’re willing to sacrifice everything—no breaks, less pay, more patients—because we’re driven solely by patient care. But that’s not the reality. Nurses are reporting burnout nationwide. Nurses are not coming to work because they believe terrible working conditions are worth enduring for the opportunity to care for patients. They’re showing up because they need to pay for childcare, groceries, and rent. It’s time we put that old narrative to rest.

Ambiguity in healthcare

I’m sure wanting to feel accomplished isn’t unique to the nursing profession. But what makes healthcare unique is the ambiguity of its goals. Are we expected to prioritize patient care above all else, or follow a profit-focused business plan? U.S. healthcare organizations often espouse patient care as the top priority, but their actions tend to reflect the latter. Nurses and middle management, on the front lines, feel this tension acutely.

It’s one thing to work in an industry where growth is the common objective. For instance, I’m sure tech workers at Google accept that expansion is a fundamental part of their job. But for nurses, that’s not acceptable. If we were to say our primary focus was profit growth, we would be shunned by society—and rightly so. Yet the organizations we work for constantly toe this line, leaving us with the impossible task of reconciling our professional values with leadership’s profit-driven priorities.

Shared vision fuels progress

In The Infinite Game, Simon Sinek argues that truly successful organizations are driven by a “just cause”—a shared vision that goes beyond purely profits and focuses on a higher purpose. For nurses, that “just cause” isn’t only about providing excellent patient care but also about lifting their heads from a task to see colleagues working through their shifts without burnout, feeling proud of the work they’ve done, and knowing they’re valued and supported by the organization. Sinek posits that providing employees with a just cause is what fosters innovation and quality work. In healthcare, I believe that the shared vision of caring for patients and ensuring nurse well-being are fundamentally intertwined. When we prioritize helping nurses thrive, we inherently enhance patient care.

Caring about employees is vital to success

As frontline nurses, we lack visibility into what happens “above” us and therefore can’t pretend to understand the rationale behind top-down initiatives that seem focused solely on cutting costs and increasing our workload. However, I believe—perhaps naively—that healthcare leaders aspire to create organizations that provide high-quality care, envisioning a future where patients are happy and potentially healed.

What is glaringly absent in healthcare is the understanding that, as Simon Sinek asserts, truly caring for employees is essential for an organization's success. I’m not just referring to Maslow’s basic needs, such as safety and protection from workplace violence. While these are unfortunately still lacking in many workplaces and should be fundamental, they should serve as the baseline expectations for any nursing environment. Instead, I’m advocating for a deeper level of care—providing employees with the motivation that comes from a compelling just cause that explicitly prioritizes the interconnectedness of patient care and nurse fulfillment.

Healthcare needs a dual focus

For healthcare organizations to redefine their intertwined higher purpose, they must recognize that protecting employee fulfillment ultimately protects their patients—their customers. Instead of viewing employees as a cost, healthcare leaders should see them as a wellspring of high performance. By effectively motivating their workforce, organizations will get the “above and beyond” they dream of. Sinek argues that a company’s long-term success depends on a CEO who focuses on a greater vision and inspires employees, alongside a CFO who prioritizes profits. I believe this dual focus needs to be more clearly defined in healthcare. After all, as Sinek puts it, “When people are financially invested, they want a return. When people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute.

Short-term goals hurt long-term success

When leadership focuses too much on profit growth, it will result in short-term decisions—such as cutting staff or prioritizing cost-saving measures—that undermine nurses’ sense of purpose. This doesn’t just harm employees; it directly impacts patient care. Imagine being on your feet for 8-12 hours with no time to breathe (or even pee), only to leave with the nagging feeling that you’ve fallen short of what your patients and team deserved. That’s the inevitable result when healthcare organizations lose sight of the correct shared vision. Nurses go home feeling like failures and patients don’t get the care they deserve.

Final thoughts: It's not just about patient care

So, when we talk about nursing, let’s move beyond the idea that we show up solely because we care about our patients. It’s not just that. It’s about being valued as employees so we can show up and do our best work, day in and day out. Our ability to care for our patients hinges on this understanding. If healthcare organizations embraced Sinek’s advice, they would unlock remarkable loyalty and engagement from their nursing workforce, significantly advancing their pursuit of an effective greater cause: caring for patients by caring for nurses.

Do you agree or disagree?  Please shoot me an email and let me know. I love love love hearing from you!

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