Abstract
Lacking political stewardship, healthcare in America is shaped primarily by rapidly changing market forces seeking to stem the tide of rising healthcare costs. However, nursing's voice in this process is fragmented and unfocused. Staff nurses' focus and commitment are to quality care rendered at the bedside and in interactions with the patient. With this narrow focus, staff nurses are paralyzed by the constant change and unable to move to a broader, more integrative view of healthcare-one that encompasses quality care, policymaking, and healthcare finance. Using the theory of transformative learning, nurse administrators and managers can influence nurses' frames of reference and expand their view to be more inclusive. Nurses who are successful in this transformation process will emerge with a new view of self-visible and empowered. These newly transformed nurses see themselves more as healthcare engineers than as technicians coordinating care across the continuum, and creating fluid working relationships to prevent the dis-continuum of care of patients falling through the cracks of the current healthcare system.