Nursing Outside the Lines: Identity, Policy, and the Rise of Gig Economy Nursing

Background Australia’s nursing workforce is under intensifying strain, yet an increasing subset of registered nurses (RNs) are not seeking permanence—they are choosing to work exclusively through agencies. This trend is commonly framed as a matter of flexibility or pay. However, such explanations understate what exclusive agency nursing does to professional identity, how it operates as a response to organizational dysfunction, and how policy–practice arrangements enable transient careers within a regulated high‐income system. Objectives To generate an interpretive, policy‐relevant account of how exclusive casual agency employment shapes nurses’ professional identities, motivations, career trajectories, and engagement with collective professional advocacy. Methods An interpretivist, constructionist qualitative design was employed. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 16 Melbourne‐based RNs who worked exclusively through nursing agencies. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic