Functions and duties of a nurse in the opinion of medical students and nursing students of selected universities in Poland

Introduction. Cooperation between doctors and nurses, historically problematic, continues to elicit discussions in various healthcare systems.
Hence, it is important to distinguish how nurses view their profession in comparison to doctors’ opinions. One way to understand both
professions’ core perspectives is to survey students — future doctors and nurses.

Aim. This paper compares opinions between medical students and nursing students about the professional functions and duties of nurses.

Material and methods. Two cross-sectional studies of medical students and nursing students in medical universities in Poland were conducted
using the Polish version of the standardized survey “Professional Nursing Image Survey” (PNIS), developed by the American Nurses
Association National Commission. The survey was completed by 900 medical students in their first, third and sixth year, as well as 815 first and third year nursing students.

Results. Both medical students and nursing students perceived the nurses’ primary responsibilities as medication administration, measuring
vital signs, and performing intravenous therapy. Nursing students more often perceived the nurses’ major functions as providing support to
patients’ families, providing medication information and health status updates, and completing documentation.

Conclusion. Opinions between nursing students and medical students differ regarding the expectations of nurses’ professional roles. The
largest differences in opinions included nurse activities such as informing patients about medications and completing documentation.
Problemy Pielęgniarstwa 2012; 20 (4): 454–460