Although nursing is the nation's largest health care field, with 2.5 million registered nurses nationwide, misinformation from news stories and other media at times has fueled public misperceptions about the profession.
Nursing students comprise more than half of all health professions students .
Nurses comprise the largest single component of hospital staff , are the primary providers of hospital patient care, and deliver most of the nation's long-term care. Most health care services involve some form of care by nurses . Other nurses work in careers as college and university educators preparing future nurses or as scientists developing advances in many areas of health care and health promotion. Nursing operates independent of, not auxiliary to, medicine and other disciplines. Nurses' roles range from direct patient care to case management, establishing nursing practice standards, developing quality assurance procedures, and directing complex nursing care systems.