Zombies Wanted! Descriptions of Nurses in Psychiatric-Mental Health Care in Swedish Recruitment Advertisements

Abstract

Knowledge of how nurses are described in recruitment advertisements can aid assessment of the current status of professional psychiatric-mental health nursing and inform services dealing with the challenges of nurse recruitment. This study used content analysis to explore descriptions of nurses in psychiatric-mental health care in a purposive sample of 75 recruitment advertisements collected in Sweden in February 2019. The descriptions were interpreted as focussing on their <i>being willing and able to function in discouraging practice environments</i>, matching the ideal of psychiatric-mental health nursing poorly. The study suggested a need to align the ideals and realities of the nursing profession.