Nurses' visibility according to the perceptions of the communication professionals.

UNLABELLED

This study aimed to further our understanding of the social representations of nurses and the nursing profession by communication professionals, since they are intermediates in the decoding of imaging and written representations about society.

METHOD

this is a qualitative study, based on the social representation theory of Moscovici. Five communication professionals working on radio, television, written press, advertising and events were interviewed. Results suggest 1) ignorance about the nurse's field of work, job market and nursing profession categorization. 2) nurses' invisibility before the media and society and 3) nurse's own responsibility to obtain professional recognition and visibility. Participants in this study pointed two essential processes for building a more coherent image of nursing and nurses: 1) exposing the profession primarily before the media, which ignores its potentialities, and 2) through the media in order to reach the population in general.