title: The exposure of the nursing profession in online and print media.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  to describe the coverage of news concerning the nursing profession in the Portuguese media: informative sites on the Internet and in print media.
  
  
  METHODS
  a total of 1,271 health news items were collected in September and October of 2011 (956 online news items and 325 news items originating from the press review of the Portuguese Order of Nurses). Statistical analysis was used to characterize the variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  nurses were the sources of information in 6.6% of cases, suggesting limited media exposure. The health news collected is characterized by a production based on limited information sources, that is, male and official sources, on information disseminated by news agencies focused on economic and political issues in the health field.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  the presence of nurses in the news concerning nursing health is reduced. We suggest that nurses develop public communication skills to disseminate the importance of their profession in society and their relationship with the media.
authors.affiliation: Universidade do Porto, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Porto, Portugal, Doctoral student, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Rodrigo José Martins
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.affiliation: Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal, PhD, Adjunct Professor, Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Coimbra, Unidade Científico-Pedagógica de Enfermagem Fundamental, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: João Manuel Garcia de Nascimento
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Graveto
authors.affiliation: Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal, PhD, Retired Profesor, Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ana Maria Correia Albuquerque
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Queiroz
mesh_terms: D020407:Internet; D008402:Mass Media; D009729:Nursing; D011174:Portugal