AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To describe public nursing home Enrolled Nurses' and Nurses Aides' view of their work and their perceptions of themselves in their professional role while they were receiving a serious of role awareness sessions focusing on empowerment for nine months. BACKGROUND: According to several studies, it is typical that women may experience problems and injustices at work. The main focus of the intervention was to help enrolled nurses' and nurses aides' in developing their self-image and professional role. DESIGN: This study was descriptive and qualitative in design. METHODS: The present study comprises semi-structured interviews conducted with enrolled nurses and nurses aides (n = 14) from public nursing homes at start of the intervention and again nine months following the intervention. The text from the interviews was analysed using latent content analysis. RESULTS: The main findings primarily show an improved professional role for the caregivers, as described in the following themes: the move from passivity to activity, the move from complaining to understanding, the move from expectations to frustration and the move from being silent to speaking loud. CONCLUSIONS: For caregivers working with older people within public nursing home care, it seems to be a good form of clinical supervision to implement a serious of role awareness sessions in order to improve their professional role. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The findings showed that an intervention providing opportunities with focus on empowerment improved the enrolled nurses' and nurses aides' professional role in working with older people. This can be useful information for managers and educators and they may want to adapt it when working in a public nursing home.