📖 ABSTRACT/OVERVIEW
Background: Nursing professionalisation in Nigeria has been historically constrained by gender inequities, colonial legacies, and medical dominance. A feminist analytical lens provides a generative framework for understanding these structural forces and their contemporary implications for nursing professional identity. Aim: This study conducted a feminist analysis of the historical and contemporary dynamics shaping nursing professionalisation and professional identity in Nigeria. Methods: A feminist historical and critical discourse analysis approach combined analysis of policy documents, nursing regulatory archives, and 36 narrative interviews with senior nurses, nursing educators, and regulators from across Nigeria's six geopolitical zones. Foucauldian discourse analysis and standpoint feminist theory guided interpretation. Results: Three discursive regimes were identified: medical subordination discourse, domesticated care femininity discourse, and emerging autonomous professional discourse. Historical analysis traced the colonial imposition of gender-stratified nursing roles and their reproduction through regulatory and institutional structures. Contemporary nurses navigated identity tensions between conformist deference and professional autonomy. Conclusion: Feminist-informed nursing education, gender-transformative regulatory frameworks, and nurse-led advocacy are essential to achieve true professionalisation in the Nigerian nursing system. Keywords: nursing professionalisation, feminist analysis, gender, professional identity, Nigeria.
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