Antunes Da Costa Santos, Ana ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2588-0884 and Mfuko, Celina (2026) Listen to 73 voices: rethink nursing leadership perspectives. Journal of Research in Nursing. ISSN 1744-9871 (Print), 1744-988X (Online) (In Press)

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Abstract

The Department of Health and Social Care’s 10‑Year Health Plan (2025) highlighted the urgent need to invest in the nursing workforce, with emphasis on expanding training, improving retention, and strengthening leadership. In contemporary healthcare systems characterised by complexity, workforce strain, and widening inequity, leadership can no longer be understood solely as positional authority. Drawing on reflective insights from participation in a Nursing Leadership Lived Experience Project and a Fellowship with the emerging Nursing Leadership Institute within a large NHS Trust in England, this paper reflects on stories of how leadership is enacted, experienced, and sustained across nursing contexts. Integrating lived narrative with contemporary leadership theory and NHS policy frameworks, the paper argues for a reframing of leadership development: from competency acquisition to identity formation; from hierarchy to distributed practice; and from resilience rhetoric
to systemic support. Implications are considered in the context of the 2025 State of the World’s Nursing Report (2025) and the forthcoming national Nursing and Midwifery Strategy for England, highlighting the need to reimagine nursing leadership if the profession is to fully realise its role in healthcare delivery and system transformation.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	nursing Leadership, lived experience, leadership development, professional identity
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) R Medicine > R Medicine (General) R Medicine > RT Nursing
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > School of Health Sciences (HEA)
Last Modified:	01 Oct 2026 12:00
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/54529

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