Background: Ethical issues associated with nurses’ interactions with industry have implications for the safety, quality, and cost of healthcare. To date, little work has explored nurse–industry interactions and their associated ethical issues empirically.

Design and participants: A phenomenological study was conducted to explore registered nurses’ interactions with industry in clinical practice. Five registered nurses working in direct patient care were recruited and individual, in-depth interviews were conducted. The University’s Committee on Human Research approved the study.

Findings: Nurses frequently interacted with industry in their practice and felt ambivalent about these interactions. Nurses described systemic cuts to multiple "goods" central to nursing practice, including patient support, but paradoxically relied on industry resources to deliver these "goods." They relied on a particular conception of trust to navigate these interactions but were left to do so individually on the basis of their experience. Conflicts of interest arose as a result of multiple competing interests, and were frequently mediated through nurses’ superiors.

Conclusion: Nursing as a profession requires a guiding narrative to aid nurses in interpreting and navigating interactions with industry. A conception of trust that incorporates both the work of caring and attention to social justice could form the basis of these interactions, but would require that nursing take a much more critical stance toward marketing interactions.