Investigating the Most Important Sources of Public Nursing Image from the Perspective of Patients Admitted to Hospitals in Zanjan-Iran

Background: The social image of nursing includes the beliefs and perceptions that people have about nursing. Due to their direct communication with nurses, hospitalized patients can provide a more realistic image of nursing. Objectives: This study was conducted to ascertain the most important sources of the public image of nursing from the perspective of patients hospitalized in Zanjan-Iran hospitals. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 698 patients hospitalized in Zanjan hospitals in July 2021. The subjects were recruited by the census sampling method. A demographic information checklist and a researcher-made questionnaire for nursing image resources were used to collect the data. The data were analyzed using SPSS 16 software, descriptive statistics, and the Chi-square tes. Results : Most of the participants were female (54%), and the mean (standard deviation) age of the participants was 45.01 (16.8) years. Of the participants, 63.75% identified "presence in the hospital as a patient or a companion" as the most important source of the nursing image. Also, the sources of the nursing image from the perspective of patients varied significantly regarding variables such as age, sex, education, occupation, history of hospitalization, having a nurse among family members, interest in nursing and type of hospital. (P<0.05). Conclusion: The most important source of the nursing image from the patients’ perspective was "presence in the hospital as a patient or a companion". As patients can be an important source for transferring the nursing image to society, plans should be implemented to improve their relationship with nurses so that a correct and positive image of nursing can be propagated in society.