Analyzing Predictive Factors for the Media's Impact on the Nursing Profession

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Communication
• Media Studies
• Nursing Profession

Background:

• Mass media significantly influences public perception and professional visibility.
• Nursing, the largest healthcare profession, is notably underrepresented in media coverage.
• This underrepresentation negatively affects the nursing profession's social status and public image.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess nurses' perceptions of media's role in society and the nursing profession.
• To identify factors influencing the perceived importance of media education among nurses.
• To explore strategies for enhancing the media representation of nursing.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 203 participants using a validated online questionnaire.
• Snowball sampling method for data collection.
• Statistical analyses included Welch ANOVA, t-tests, and hierarchical regression.

Main Results:

• Nurses perceive media positively in society but note inadequate representation of their profession.
• Younger nurses and those with higher education levels expressed a greater need for media education.
• Perceived media power and self-assessed media competencies predicted the value placed on media education.

Conclusions:

• Media literacy training should be integrated into nursing education curricula.
• Enhanced media literacy can empower nurses to shape their professional image and combat misconceptions.
• Future research should involve larger, diverse samples across various healthcare settings.