According to Miriam Webster Dictionary freedom is a noun, and defined as the quality or state of being free. Freedom is the absence of necessity, coercion or constraints in choice or action.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are the hallmarks of independence. To be liberated from the constraints and restraints of the power from another, or a set of beliefs, yields a quality of life that allows for ease of speech and privilege to be and become what we want.

As nurses, we may experience coercion or constraints, even restraints in our practice. Can we liberate ourselves and define our set of beliefs to have the power to see and say what nursing is and is not?

Contemporary theorists and healers believe we may start by setting the intention for the highest healing good to occur; then see nursing within the context of a set of beliefs and values that promote caring and healing for self, system and others; we take action to liberate our selves and others of the constraints and restraints that bind us from achieving this end.

What is it like to live and work in environments that allow freedom of speech and action? Are we brave enough to challenge those who seek to imprison us in thought and behavior? Is nursing is the home of the free and the brave; or are we constrained  by restrictive rules, mores and narratives?

In my research on caring and healing I have heard nursing narratives that describe transformative advocacy; looking, and seeing where the next right action enfolds … taking the next steps together, with each other, and our patients and families down a new yellow brick road that meets each persons next Freedom.

Nursing, the home of the Free and the Brave; let Freedom reign.