Aim: To investigate the current public understanding and perceptions of nursing.
Background: In recent years, attention to large scale health-care failures has focused considerable concern upon nursing standards. To avoid short-term solutions, and the temptation to see individual failures as representative of the wider profession, it is important to understand contemporary public perceptions of nursing.
Evaluation: A systematic review and narrative synthesis of peer reviewed papers from January 2010 to September 2015.
Key issues: Four main themes were identified: (1) media portrayal of nursing as a troubled profession; (2) entertainment value in demeaning nursing; (3) role incongruity - nursing trusted but not respected; and (4) nursing roles remain poorly understood.
Conclusions: Although there is evidence of strong public trust, this does not generally appear to be born out of an understanding of nursing work and impact; rather it appears to stem from the respect held for the traditional, more sentimental stereotypes of selfless, hardworking young females.
Implications for nursing management: A long-term, strategic solution is required that focuses on public engagement and interaction with the profession in a context wider than personal health/ill-health, and that goes beyond the marketing campaigns seen in the past to address recruitment crises.
Keywords: media image; nursing; nursing workforce; public knowledge; public opinion; public perception.
© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.