Nursing is viewed by the public as a well-respected field of work. I have heard many people say “It takes a special person to be a nurse” or “you have such a big heart to do that, I could never do that”. Their perception of what “nursing” is or does is based on their experiences. I feel like they may not see nursing as what it is.

The different factors that could affect the public’s perception of nursing would include: past experiences, family members that are nurses, stories that have heard or read about, and tv shows that they have seen.

There are different ways to approach how you would educate the public on the professional nurse’s role and scope of practice within a changing health care system. I think it would be neat to have articles posted about the Professional nurse’s role during Nurses week each year. These articles could be up to date with the nurse’s cutting edge evidence-based practice and any new changes that occurred over the last year. Another way to educate the general public would be to be thorough in your nursing practice, by educating your patient and family member. Explaining what you are doing and why you are doing it, helps the patient and family member better understand the nurse’s role and responsibilities.