en Nursing Orginal research <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:normal"><span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span sans-serif="" style="font-family:Calibri,"><b><i><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Background:</span></i></b> <span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">The social image of nursing includes the beliefs and perceptions that people have about nursing. Due to their direct communication with nurses, hospitalized patients can provide a more realistic image of nursing</span><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">. </span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:normal"><span style="tab-stops:40.5pt 191.4pt 292.5pt"><span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span sans-serif="" style="font-family:Calibri,"><b><i><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Objectives: </span></i></b><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">This study was conducted to ascertain the most important sources of the public image of nursing from the perspective of patients hospitalized in Zanjan-Iran hospitals.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:12pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="color:black"><b><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Methods:</span></i></b> <span style="font-size:11.0pt">This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 698 patients hospitalized in Zanjan hospitals in July 2021. The subjects were recruited by the census sampling method. A demographic information checklist and a researcher-made questionnaire for nursing image resources were used to collect the data. The data were analyzed using SPSS 16 software, descriptive statistics, and the Chi-square tes</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt">.</span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:normal"><span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span sans-serif="" style="font-family:Calibri,"><b><i><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Results</span></i></b><b><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">:</span></b><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""> Most of the participants were female (54%), and the mean (standard deviation) age of the participants was 45.01 (16.8) years. Of the participants, 63.75% identified &quot;presence in the hospital as a patient or a companion&quot; as the most important source of the nursing image. Also, the sources of the nursing image from the perspective of patients varied significantly regarding variables such as age, sex, education, occupation, history of hospitalization, </span><span lang="EN" new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">having a nurse among family members</span><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">, interest in nursing and type of hospital. (P<0.05).</span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:normal"><span style="tab-stops:40.5pt 191.4pt 292.5pt"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span sans-serif="" style="font-family:Calibri,"><b><i><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Conclusion:</span></i></b><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""> The most important source of the nursing image from the patients&rsquo; perspective was &quot;presence in the hospital as a patient or a companion&quot;. As patients can be an important source for transferring the nursing image to society, plans should be implemented to improve their relationship with nurses so that a correct and positive image of nursing can be propagated in society.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span> public nursing image, source of nursing image, patients, nursing 65 75 http://nmcjournal.zums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-154-4&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Batoul Allahloei 100319475328460014206 100319475328460014206 No Department of Medical Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Azar Avazeh nurse@zums.ac.ir 100319475328460014207 100319475328460014207 Yes Department of Medical Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Kourosh Amini korosh@zums.ac.ir 100319475328460014208 100319475328460014208 No Department of Psychiatric Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Iran