ABSTRACT
Nurses have been called upon by professional organizations and scholars to show leadership, stand up to unethical and illegal practices, and get involved in policy. The Ancient Greek concept of parrhesia is essentially nonexistent in nursing or the health sciences literature. In other fields, including international relations, political theory, philosophy, literature/rhetoric, and communication, parrhesia is a widely used concept. In health care, emancipatory strategies are usually linked to patients and/or workers empowerment, allowing them to identify, challenge, and transform oppressive and unethical practices. The values, desires, and agencies of these entities become nurses own and this is construed as professional or ethical practice. Nurses can develop a comfort zone where putting oneself first, in the form of care of the self and parrhesia, is a desirable, powerful political act that, far from distracting nurses from their professional obligations, allows them to remain true to their care ideals, their values, and their selves.
