Factors contributing to the social status of nurses: a qualitative study of key stakeholders’ perspectives in Shanghai, China

There is a paucity of data on the factors affecting the subjective social status, which makes it difficult to implement strategies to facilitate the improvement of the social status of nurses. This was a descriptive qualitative study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 43 participants, including hospital nursing managers (n = 9), staff nurses (n = 15), doctors (n = 9) and patients (n = 10). Inductive content analysis was used to analyze the data. An ecological model was proposed, outlining fourteen elements that were critical to the social status of nurses. The ecological model consisted of 6 domains: (1) individual level, including income and educational level, (2) professional level, including professionalization of nursing and professional autonomy, (3) interpersonal level, including nurse-patient relationship and physician-nurse relationship, (4) organizational level, including organizational management, organizational support and atmosphere, (5) community level, including stereotypes and the nurse-environment misalignment, involvement in the public health emergency, social support, and renewal of health needs, and (6) public policy level, including planning for nursing development and protection of the legal rights of nurses. This qualitative study identified common concerns that may affect the social status of nurses from the perspectives of different stakeholders. The factors contributing to the social status of nurses came from six aspects, including individual level, professional level, interpersonal level, organizational level, community level and public policy level. The findings could help nurse managers have a better overall understanding of the social status of nurses, analyze the current problems, and then take effective measures to improve the social status of nurses.