No author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.

A three-level (individual, organizational and national) nursing marketing programme is proposed for implementation by nurse leadership and policy makers. Among proposed steps to improve marketing of the nursing profession are promotion of the image of nursing by the individual nurse in the course of her or his daily activities, formulation and implementation of policies and programmes to promote the image of nursing at the organizational level and drawing up of a long-term programme for promoting or marketing the professional status of nursing at the national level.

Our study indicated some reluctance among nurses to care for patients with blood-borne pathogens. This appears to be the result of value systems and not a lack of knowledge, indicating a need to integrate a psychoeducational approach to education of nurses.

At the end of 2002 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) emerged and spread worldwide. The pathogen was unknown, as was its mechanism of transfer, and there was no effective therapy for the disease. There was a large element of hysteria and anxiety in society's reaction to SARS. The initial steps taken to cope with SARS were clear-cut and even dramatic. Decision-making in a time of emergency is associated with a high potential for ethical dilemmas and conflicts. In the course of efforts to cope with a threatening disease, it is important to appraise our activities from an ethical point of view. A retrospective look at this period of time shows that we did not do this. This article examines the ethical aspects of the process undertaken to cope with SARS in our medical centre.

This study investigated 204 doctors' and nurses' perceived knowledge of bloodborne pathogens and their attitudes towards bloodborne pathogen-infected health care workers. A structured questionnaire examined: (1) their perceived knowledge of bloodborne pathogens; (2) their attitudes towards bloodborne pathogen-infected personnel; and (3) their opinions on limitation of employment of bloodborne pathogen-infected personnel and restrictions on performing clinical procedures. The levels of HIV-related knowledge were significantly higher than for hepatitis C and B viruses. Although the participants demonstrated more positive attitudes towards hepatitis C- and B-infected health care workers, 64% recommended restricting infected personnel from performing invasive procedures. Attitudes were negatively correlated with opinions on restricting infected personnel from health care work or limiting their involvement in clinical activities. This study highlights the need to formulate a policy to cope with the professional and moral dilemmas related to infected health care workers employed in hospitals, especially for those involved in invasive procedures.