On November 16, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) and several other nursing organizations issued a policy brief to address misinformation that is being spread by medical professionals concerning COVID-19.

The statement is a response to the recent increase in complaints made to the boards concerning nurses who have shared information that runs counter to the most up-to-date research and official guidance. “Nurses are urged to recognize that dissemination of misinformation not only jeopardizes the health and well-being of the public,” the brief states, “but may place their license and career in jeopardy as well.”

What Is Considered Misinformation?

The policy statement defines misinformation as “distorted facts, inaccurate or misleading information not grounded in the peer-reviewed scientific literature,” and which run counter to the information provided by the FDA and CDC. It also includes factual omissions and opinions stated by medical professionals, which are nevertheless not informed by data from rigorous scientific research.

“Providing misinformation to the public regarding masking, vaccines, medications, and/or COVID-19 threatens public health,” the brief states, and nurses who spread misinformation may be subject to disciplinary action, says Maryann Alexander, Ph.D., RN, chief officer of nursing regulation at the NCSBN. 

Upholding the Code of Ethics for Nurses

The diffusion of misinformation is not restricted to formal healthcare settings. Social media is also a common vehicle, and it reaches far more people than one-to-one conversations. “When identifying themselves by their profession, nurses are professionally accountable for the information they provide to the public,” the brief says, regardless of how they provide it. 

“Any nurse who violates their state nurse practice act or threatens the health and safety of the public through the dissemination of misleading or incorrect information pertaining to COVID-19, vaccines, and associated treatment through verbal or written methods, including social media may be disciplined by their board of nursing.”

Not Just Nurses

Nurses aren’t the only ones under heightened scrutiny regarding professional standards. The American Medical Association’s House of Delegates has also recently adopted a new policy intended to halt the spread of disinformation by doctors and other members of the medical community. In August, the Federation of State Medical Boards stated that physicians who intentionally spread misinformation or disinformation concerning COVID-19 vaccines could lose their licenses and be disciplined by their state medical boards.

Meeting Expectations

Healthcare providers are expected to be “prepared to practice from an evidence base,” reads a statement by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, which is cited in the NCSBN brief, “promote safe, quality patient care; use clinical/critical reasoning to address simple to complex situations; [and] assume accountability for one’s own and delegated nursing care.”

Medical professionals should be held to the highest standards, the organizations said, and the new policy statements aim to ensure that those standards are being met. “Our goal is protection of the public,” Alexander concluded. “And anything that is a risk to the public is a concern to us. That is number one.”

*Henderson, J. (2021, Nov. 18). Nursing Groups Look to Tackle COVID Misinformation. MedPage Today. https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/95758 

Much about the novel coronavirus, i.e., COVID-19, is still not fully understood. As research progresses and our knowledge of the virus increases, information can change rapidly. We strive to update all of our articles as quickly as possible, but there may occasionally be some lag between scientific developments and our revisions.