Background: The public image of the profession of nursing is one of challenges in the long term. So, recognition sources of shaping this image would be enabling nurse managers and leaders that accurate planning for confronting to this challenge.

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the perspective of nurses who worked in teaching hospitals and general public in Mashhad city to resources that shaping the public image of nursing and their importance.

Methods: This study descriptive cross sectional was done in 2012 in the city of Mashhad and Mashhad University of Medical Sciences hospitals. The sample size for the urban population was (1,100) people who selected cluster randomly and (520) nurses who worked in teaching hospitals and they selected non-random sampling method stratified. Data collection tool was questionnaire including demographic information and eight shaping the public image resources for nursing. Its reliability by using Alpha-Chronbach was (0.86). Data were analyzed using SPSS, version 11.5 by the Man-Whitney test.

Results: Data showed that (78.3%) of the nurses were female and (21.7 %) of them were males and also (50.3%) people in public were women and (49.7%) of them were male. Mann-Whitney test results showed that the most important resources in shaping the public image of nursing were hospitalization (as the patients), the kin of patients, television series and movies, respectively. There was no significant difference between the views of nurses' and people in public in importance of these resources. But resources such as the employment of relatives, stories, news and newspapers were low importance in general public views. And there was difference between their views and nurses' views significantly (p<0.001).

Conclusion: Based on finding nurse managers must be accurate planning for effective role nurses in clinical setting and also, effective interaction with the media group would be prevent distorted and unreal image of nursing in video production.