SuperNurse? Troubling the Hero Discourse in COVID Times

Abstract

Since March 2020, throughout the world people have been paying tribute to health care workers for their commitment in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Wuhan they cheer in the night, in Italy they sing from balconies, in Canada they bang pots, and in the United Kingdom they clap for carers. Within the milieu of tangled popular media discourse, heroism has emerged strongly and consistently to describe health care workers, and in particular, nurses.