Nursing in the spotlight: Talk about nurses and the nursing profession on Twitter during the early COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: Nurses comprise the largest portion of healthcare workers and are integral to the COVID-19 response. Twitter has become a popular platform for the public, including nurses, to engage in pandemic-related discourse. PURPOSE: We sought to analyze the representation of the nursing profession and characterize nurses’ experiences during the pandemic from tweets published in April 2020. METHODS: We analyzed tweets using natural language processing, Word Adjacency Graph (WAG) Modeling, and thematic analysis. Authors independently reviewed 10% of raw tweets in each WAG-generated topic, qualitatively analyzed tweets, and identified emerging themes. FINDINGS: Six themes emerged: Support and Recognition of Nurses, Military Metaphors, Superhuman/Spiritual Metaphors, Advocacy, Personal Experiences with Nurses, and Social/Political Commentary. Public perception of nurses was positive, but nurses conveyed harsh realities of their work. DISCUSSION: Findings highlight discrepancies in nursing experiences and public perceptions of nursing. Further research should accurately identify and convey the complexities of the nursing profession.