Quo Vadis? A question of historical awareness.

AIM: To emphasize the role of history in shaping clinical nursing identity and opportunities, and encourage nurses' contribution to the story of contemporary clinical nursing. APPROACH: Drawing upon history frameworks and approaches to history research, greater engagement of clinical nurses in recording nursing history is canvassed. A basic framework for developing historical research from practice narratives is suggested as a feasible option. OUTCOMES: Topics identified: a) nurses' awareness of their history and nursing's professional standing; b) the importance of oral history in nursing development; and c) digital influences on history research and constructing historical narratives. CONCLUSION: Clinical nurses' stories contribute to historical research. All nurses are responsible for gathering and distributing contemporary local narratives on clinical nursing. Oral history research provides a framework for nurses to record and share stories. IMPLICATIONS: Recorded history can prevent nursing from being trivialized or misrepresented. Missing accounts of contemporary nursing create gaps in our narrative and risk future professional disempowerment.