ABSTRACT
AIM: Leadership deficits and poor communication about COVID-19 (C-19) science connect risk-shifting and vaccination hesitancy to safety issues for nurses and the general public. BACKGROUND: Nurses can be trusted, especially in these chaotic times, to provide trustworthy information on C-19. Publicly expressed gratitude to nurses does little to improve work environments made more precarious by C-19. Practical support may help retain nurses in the health system. DISCUSSION: Public trust in governments has dissipated during the pandemic. People are confused by inconsistent and contentious information and services. Publishing practices that produce low-quality publications undermine scientific information and impede the flow of high-quality research information. CONCLUSION: Science can advise on a pathway through the risks of C-19 but it is politicians and government officials who decide policy on whether to accept the science and set the level of acceptable risk to the general public. Problematic publishing and communication pathways for essential information contribute to public uncertainty and undermine trust in vaccines, public health strategies, and immigration and quarantine policies. IMPLICATIONS: Nurse safety needs to be central to policy deliberations that affect transmission or spending on infection risk reduction. Policies that put nurses at increased risk encourage those with a choice, to abandon unsafe health system employment. Research quality systems that improve research communication pathways to support practice are urgently needed. Nurses rely on research information sources for credible evidence to support their clinical practice. Risk-shifting is the unintended consequence of government policy on vaccination, immigration, international travel, quarantine and screening for C-19. Governments must accept their role in generating public mistrust of vaccines and not judge people's decisions made on the basis of information available. Political manipulation of C-19 data needs to be exposed to enable recovery planning.