The Social and Professional Image of the Nurse: Results of an Online Snowball Sampling Survey among the General Population in the Post-Pandemic Period

Abstract

Background. The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed people’s lifestyles by imposing social, economic, and labor changes. Health professionals have been in the spotlight, occasionally even elevated to the status of “heroes”, as they have been at the forefront of the health emergency. Media exposure has undoubtedly played a pivotal role in the evolution and perception of the public’s image of nurses, especially within the Italian context. Currently, there is only one study conducted in Italy during the pandemic period. For this reason, we have opted to delve further into this subject during the post-pandemic period, with the ultimate goal of identifying this perceptual evolution. Methods. An online snowball sampling survey was conducted among the Italian population using social networks between August 2022 and January 2023. The survey utilized the Nursing Attitude Questionnaire (NAQ) to collect data. Results. The sample consisted of 564 individuals. Among the respondents, 63.8% (n = 360) were familiar with the nursing pathway, and the level of agreement regarding the training of nurses was 81.5% (n = 260). In terms of recognizing the professional role of nurses, variations emerged in certain domains of the NAQ. Specifically, professional values of nurses were more pronounced in northern and central Italy (M = 26.27). Moreover, stereotypes were more prevalent in the north (23.73 ± 3.538) and the center (23.13 ± 4.104) (p = 0.001). Conclusions. The sample acknowledged a unique competence inherent to nurses that cannot be replaced by other professionals. The study population perceives the nursing profession as pivotal within the IHS (Integrated Health System). However, the attractiveness of the profession remains exceedingly low. This study was not registered on a publicly available registry.

Rebuilding Nursing Culture Through Application of Social Identity Theory and Inclusivity in Health Care Systems

“…Recent reports confirm that the public image of nursing competence remains high and unreplaceable by other professionals; however, the attractiveness of the profession remains low. 17 While it is not fully understood why nursing school enrollment numbers are down, social image may be a contributing factor.…”

“…During the early waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses were portrayed as “heroes,” and as the pandemic progressed, so did the social and professional images of nurses. Recent reports confirm that the public image of nursing competence remains high and unreplaceable by other professionals; however, the attractiveness of the profession remains low 17. While it is not fully understood why nursing school enrollment numbers are down, social image may be a contributing factor.…”

Nursing Attitudes Questionnaire: Testing the Psychometric Characteristics of the Italian Version (NAQ-IV)

“…The media image of the nurse is a source of concern because of its impact on recruitment into the profession [2]; the decisions of politicians who enact laws defining the scope and financing of nursing services; the use of nursing services by consumers and the self-image that nurses perceive [3] and which may affect nursing practice [4].…”

“…In Italy the instrument was tested with a sampling afferent to the world of entertainment (VIP) [11] on high school students during meetings to orientate them for access to university and specifically to the Degree Course in Nursing [12] and in the post-pandemic period by COVID-19 on the Italian population from north to south Italy [2]. The Italian studies used the NAQ in its original form, no factor analysis calculations were performed but only internal consistency (α = 0.89) ) [11].…”

“…However, despite these results, the attractiveness of the nursing profession in Italy remains rather low. This could be attributed to the questionable level of respect that institutions have for the nursing field, the perception of inadequate salary, insufficient political representation, the prevailing association of nursing with the female gender being more inclined to nursing than to a university career, the lack of respect and an unsatisfactory nursing work environment [2]. For these reasons, it is considered useful to refine an instrument to measure people's perceptions of the nursing profession.…”