Public perception of the work of nurses and their impact on health promotion through the Media

Percepcija javnosti o sestrinstvu mijenjala se tijekom prošlosti sukladno promjenama koje su se događale unutar profesije. Stoga je javno mišljenje oduvijek bilo vrlo nesuvislo i šaroliko. Velik utjecaj na percepciju javnosti osim samih medicinskih sestara imaju i njihovi prikazi i prisutnost u medijima. Kao izvor zdravstvenih informacija vrlo rijetko su spominjane u medijima. Osvrtom na stanje u hrvatskom sestrinstvu ne nailazimo na bolje stanje: nedostatak medicinskih sestara, slabije plaće, loši uvjeti rada, nevidljivost u medijima, rijetki izvor zdravstvenih informacija svakako ostavljaju puno prostora za popravljanje profesionalnog imidža. Cilj ovog istraživanja je bio ispitati percepciju populacije o medicinskim sestrama. Uz to htjelo se saznati koliko javnost danas susreće medicinske sestre u medijima kao neki oblik izvora zdravstvenih informacija i koliko to utječe na njihov odabir vjerodostojnih izvora zdravstvenih informacija. Istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku od 309 ispitanika. Za istraživanje je korištena prilagođena verzija upitnika „National Survey of the Public about Nursing“ koji je proveden putem Google obrasca u srpnju i prvom dijelu kolovoza 2021. godine. Rezultati su pokazali kako većina ispitanika, njih 88% ima veoma ili djelomično pozitivan stav prema medicinskim sestrama u društvu, te smatraju (njih 95%) da su medicinske sestre vrlo važne u zdravstvenom sustavu. Najviše se susreću s profilom medicinskih sestara srednje stručne spreme i relativno dobro poznaju djelokrug rada medicinskih sestara svih razina obrazovanja. U medijima (članci, televizija, novine ili internet) javnost rijetko susreće medicinske sestre. U usporedbi s medijima kao izvorom zdravstvenih informacija, ispitanici daju veću važnost medicinskim sestrama jer ih smatraju kvalitetnijim izvorom informacija. Zaključak studije je da su medicinske sestre u medijima kao zdravstveni edukatori nevidljive i premalo prisutne stoga se trebaju više medijski aktivirati.Public perceptions of nursing have changed over the past in line with changes taking place within the profession. Therefore, public opinion has always been very incoherent and diverse. Apart from the nurses themselves, their portrayal and presence in the media have a great influence on the perception of the public. As a source of health information they are very rarely mentioned in the media. Looking at the situation in Croatian nursing, we do not find a better situation: lack of nurses, lower salaries, poor working conditions, invisibility in the media, a rare source of health information certainly leave a lot of room to improve the professional image. The aim of this study was to examine the population’s perception of nurses. In addition, they wanted to find out how much the public today encounters nurses in the media as some form of source of health information and how much this affects their choice of credible sources of health information. The research was conducted on a sample of 309 respondents. A customized version of the “National Survey of the Public about Nursing” questionnaire was conducted for the research, which was conducted via the Google form in July and the first part of August 2021. The results showed that the majority of respondents, 88% of them have a very or partially positive attitude towards nurses in society, and believe (95% of them) that nurses are very important in the health system. They mostly meet the profile of nurses with secondary education and know relatively well the scope of work of nurses of all levels of education. In the media (articles, television, newspapers or the Internet) the public rarely encounters nurses. Compared to the media as a source of health information, respondents attach more importance to nurses because they consider them to be a better source of information. The conclusion of the study is that nurses in the media as health educators are invisible and insufficiently present, so they need to be more active in the media