Investigating #covidnurse Messages on TikTok: Descriptive Study

Area of Science:

• Social media analysis
• Nursing studies
• Public health communication

Background:

• Nurses utilized social media platforms like TikTok for expression and communication during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• High stress and reduced social interaction characterized this period for healthcare professionals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the content of English-language TikTok videos tagged with #covidnurse.
• To understand nurses' experiences and emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic as depicted on TikTok.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional content analysis of 100 TikTok videos using the #covidnurse hashtag.
• Videos were coded for themes related to nurses' pandemic experiences and feelings.
• The hashtag had accumulated 116.9 million views at the time of data collection.

Main Results:

• The 100 analyzed videos collectively garnered over 47 million views, 76,000+ comments, and nearly 6 million likes.
• Common themes included identifying as a nurse (83%), wearing professional attire (72%), and expressing stress (58%) or frustration (53%).
• Videos mentioning the importance of nursing (49%) received less engagement (views, comments, likes) compared to their prevalence.

Conclusions:

• TikTok serves as a significant platform for social networking, support, entertainment, and health education, including topics related to COVID-19.
• The platform presents opportunities for future research in meaningful engagement and health communication for public health issues.
• Despite lower engagement, content emphasizing the value of nursing on TikTok holds potential for broader public health messaging.