Introduction
Nursing is a profession that has long been troubled with its public image. The public has a stereotypical view of nursing, in which nurses may be regarded as less intelligent than doctors, dependent on doctors, powerless and underpaid (Reiskin & Haussler 1994, Tomey et al. 1996, Rossiter et al. 1998, Hemsley-Brown & Foskett 1999, Tang et al. 1999). This view, however, may not be an accurate portrayal. While there have been many studies on the public image of nurses, there is a lack of research on how nurses actually perceive their public image. There is also a lack of knowledge of how nurses interpret their public image based on their self-image, and how this interpretation affects their work behaviour. This lack of knowledge arises because the public image of nursing is often discussed in the context of recruitment (for example, Nurse Recruitment and Retention Committee 2001). A poor public image of nursing may affect not only nursing recruitment, but also nurses’ attitudes towards work (Takase et al. 2002). The aims of this study were to explore how nurses perceive their public image, to compare this with their self-image, and to examine how this relationship affected their job performance and intention to leave their jobs (hereafter referred to as turnover intention).