Unseen Struggles–Nursing and Mental Health in Times of Covid-19

A discourse analysis of online media articles on health care workers

Abstract

This article examines how nursing and healthcare workers’ mental health was represented in online media during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on Austria, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Drawing on Critical Discourse Analysis, the study analyses 61 newspaper articles published between April 2020 and April 2021 to explore how psychological burden, prevention, and support were publicly discussed. The findings reveal widespread reporting of extreme workload, staff shortages, inadequate protective equipment, and emotional distress, including moral injury, burnout, and trauma. However, media discourse largely individualized responsibility by emphasizing resilience, heroism, and self-optimization, while structural determinants such as gendered, racialised, and neoliberal labour conditions remained underexamined. Psychological support initiatives were unevenly distributed, privileging hospital and ICU (intensive care unit) staff and neglecting mobile carers, nursing home workers, and migrant care workers. Overall, the analysis shows that COVID-19 intensified pre-existing systemic inequities in healthcare work and exposed the limits of symbolic recognition, underscoring the need for sustained structural reform and comprehensive mental health support.