Resumo

HERNANDEZ VERGEL, Lázaro Luis; RODRIGUEZ BRITO, Martha Elena; JIMENEZ PEREZ, Mireya  e  RANGEL MARIN, Fany. Imagen social de la enfermería. Rev Cubana Enfermer [online]. 2003, vol.19, n.1, pp. 250-269. ISSN 1561-2961.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was done in the population of the municipality of Caibarién during 2000. The universe of study was composed of 32 600 inhabitants over 15. A stratified randomised sampling was carried out. Sex and place of residence (by People's Councils) were considered as strata. 1 630 surveyed persons were included in the sample so as to identify the social image of nursing in the municipality. The following variables were studied: age, sex, wether nursing professionals should be males or females, opinion about the attention received, activities this personnel should carried out, the image they deserve, and the social status of the nursing staff. 48.9 % of the population surveyed are males and 51.1 females. The age group 20-29 was the most represented, 93.5 % considered that nursing personnel may be male or female, 91.9 % expressed having received an adequate attention, and a high percentage said that nusing profession deserves respect and admiration. It was concluded that society grants nursing a high status, since it always receives important contributions from other professionals.

Palavras-chave : QUALITY OF HEALTH CARE; NURSING CARE; CLINICAL COMPETENCE; PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE; PRIMARY HEALTH CARE; PUBLIC OPINION.