Opinion: Despite their essential contributions, nurses are frequently misunderstood, underestimated and seen as simply assisting doctors
By John P Gilmore, UCD
Nurses are the largest healthcare workforce in the world, making up nearly 60% of all health professionals. With more than 29 million nurses globally, they are at the heart of healthcare delivery. Whether in bustling hospital wards, community clinics, or patients' homes, nurses are often there first, stay longest, and return day after day. Beyond direct care, nurses lead in policy, education, research, and healthcare management, the professional breadth and opportunities are vast.
Despite their numbers and essential contributions, nurses are frequently misunderstood. Our roles are often underestimated or mischaracterised as simply assisting doctors. In reality, nursing is a distinct, autonomous profession with its own philosophy, scope of practice, and vital responsibilities.
More than doctor's assistants
One of the most persistent myths is that nurses merely follow doctors’ orders. While collaboration with doctors and other health professionals is a crucial aspect of care, nursing is not a subordinate role. Nurses have their own body of knowledge and regulatory standards. In our practice we assess patients, diagnose nursing needs, plan care, implement interventions, and evaluate outcomes. We don’t just "help", we lead, manage, and coordinate care.
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There are numerous nursing models, and they are fundamentally different from medical models. While medicine typically focuses on diagnosing and treating disease, nursing approaches health from a broader biological, psychological, and social perspective. Nurses ask not only what the matter with a patient is, but what matters to them. This person-centred care considers physical health, emotional wellbeing, social context, and personal goals. It aims to support people to live as well as possible, in ways meaningful to them.
Leading at the heart of patient care
Nurses are the healthcare professionals who spend the most time with patients. In hospitals, nurses are present 24/7, monitoring vital signs, managing pain, administering medications, offering emotional support, and coordinating multidisciplinary care. In the community, nurses support people with chronic illnesses, run public health programmes, provide palliative care, and respond during emergencies. Nurses are often the first to detect subtle changes in a person’s condition, intervene early, and prevent serious complications.
This ongoing presence builds not only deep clinical knowledge but also trust. Nurses are consistently ranked as the most trusted professionals in Ireland and beyond. Patients often feel more comfortable sharing personal or sensitive concerns with a nurse, knowing they will be met with empathy and understanding. This trust is a powerful foundation for delivering safe, effective, and compassionate care.
Coordinators of holistic care
Healthcare today is increasingly complex. Patients often live with multiple conditions and interact with many professionals, including doctors, therapists, dietitians, and social workers. Nurses are the linchpin that brings this care together. They ensure that services are not only clinically appropriate but also attuned to the patient’s broader life circumstances.
Nurses deliver truly holistic care by considering how illness affects people’s ability to work, care for others, participate in their communities, and live with dignity. This ability to see the bigger picture and act on it is one of nursing’s greatest strengths. Nurses listen, advocate, and support people through every stage of life and health.
Skilled, educated, and essential
Surprisingly some still believe that it does not require high levels of education. Nursing combines science, critical thinking, and human connection. Research consistently shows that better-educated nurses lead to better patient outcomes. Hospitals with more degree-qualified nurses experience lower mortality rates, fewer complications, and shorter hospital stays.
Modern nursing education involves rigorous study in subjects such as anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, psychology, sociology, ethics, communication, and leadership. Nurses are trained to respond to emergencies, interpret complex health information, use new technologies, and advocate for patients across diverse systems. In Ireland many nurses go on beyond initial degree education to study at postgraduate specialist, master’s and PhD levels.
The future of nursing
As we face a growing global shortage of nurses, with the World Health Organization estimating a shortfall of 4.5 million in the next five years, it’s more important than ever to understand and value what nursing truly involves. This shortage affects everyone: patients wait longer for care, nurses experience burnout, and healthcare systems are pushed beyond capacity. Solving this crisis requires serious investment, in nursing education, fair pay, safe staffing, and professional development. But it also requires cultural change. We must stop viewing nursing as a fallback career or supporting role and instead recognise it as the skilled, evidence-based, and life-changing profession that it is.
Nursing is evolving rapidly. Nurses are now at the forefront of research, policy, leadership and healthcare innovation. Our profession is shaping more inclusive, equitable, and person-centred systems. In every country, nurses are making a difference, not only in how care is delivered, but in how people experience illness, healing, and dignity.
Yet, even as nursing expands into new territories, its core values remain constant: understanding the person behind the diagnosis, responding with compassion and competence, and making a meaningful difference in people’s lives. Nursing is a profession rooted in care, driven by knowledge, and defined by trust.
As we look ahead, we must ensure that nurses are educated, empowered, and respected, not just for the sake of the profession, but for the wellbeing of all who rely on it.
May 12 is International Nurses Day, a day where the unique and significant impact of nurses across the world is recognised globally.
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Dr John P Gilmore is Subject Head for Adult General Nursing at University College Dublin.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
