Nursing and medical student attitudes towards nursing disclosure of information to patients: a pilot study

The American Hospital Association 'Patient's Bill of Rights' encourages greater disclosure of medical information to patients. However, the 'Bill of Rights' and conventional hospital practice centre responsibility for disclosure on physicians. The standing of nurses with regard to disclosure of information remains unclear. Many features of the nursing role indicate nurses could participate more fully in disclosure. A questionnaire exploring issues of disclosure by nurses was circulated to senior nursing students and fourth-year medical students. The 28 nursing respondents and 28 medical respondents differed significantly on 20 of the 87 items. In 15 of these, nursing students clearly showed more support than medical students for an active nursing role in disclosure, informed consent, expressing professional opinions, and patients' decision-making. A more active role by nurses in disclosing information may support increased patient participation in decision-making.