The reliability of the instruments,

The reliability of the instruments, means of the variables, and results of the t-test are presented in Table 2. Nurses rated their overall self-image statistically significantly more positively than how they believed the public viewed them. This difference was more prominently observed in leadership aptitudes. As shown in Figure 3, nurses rated their self-image as being leaders much higher than the perceived public image. They also rated themselves as more independent, intelligent, professional, and logical than their perceived public image. With reference to the image of nursing as being powerful, nurses rated their self-image and the public image as low. In contrast, there was no statistically significant difference between nurses’ self-image as being caring and their perception of the public image. In fact, respondents rated their public image slightly more positively than how they perceived themselves (Figure 4).