Nurses perceptions about the nurse's social role in Greece

B A C K G R O U N D : There is great evidence in nursing literature about the nurses’ perceptions on their role. Moststudies are focused on nursing practice and the actual role in hospitals, and other skills on basic-, intermediate- andadvanced- level patient care. In Greece, there are no studies examining the social role of nurses and nurses’ perceptionsabout it.A I M : Τo assess how nurses in Greece perceive their social role and investigate the factors influencing their social role.M A T E R I A L - M E T H O D : 342 nurses working in hospitals in the wider area of Thessaloniki were recruited inthis study. Data collection was carried out through one self-completed questionnaire developed by the researchers.R E S U L T S : 47.5% (n=162) agreed that society expects from nurses a particular behaviour, and almost half of theparticipants [51.8% (n=176)] totally agreed that nurses are practicing a ‘litourgima’. 49.1% (n=165) agreed that nursesare health educators in society and another 46.3% (n=157) totally agreed that nurses undertake actions in order toeliminate patient discrimination. 47.6% (n=160) of the participants totally agreed that nurses should be dedicated toquality improvement and 40.9% of the sample (n=138) agreed that nurses should provide care during an epidemicwhile 41.3% totally agreed that nurses execute duties of other professionals. 45.7% (n=155) totally agreed that nursesshouldn’t deny care for patients with infectious diseases. A high percentage of nurses (60.1%, n=197) agreed that apart of the nursing role is patient advocacy.C O N C L U S I O N S : The findings of the present study indicate the importance of nurses’ social role, which mayallow them to empower patients to further recognize the role of nursing during hospitalization.