The data: On NurseTok, humor and relatable content makes up 34% of videos and generates 49% of likes, comments, shares and saves, according to an NPHub analysis of 5,217 nursing videos across 14 nursing tags. Meanwhile, nurses post content about patient care nearly as often, accounting for 33% of videos, but it captures only 26% of the same types of engagement.

Why it matters: NurseTok pairs the reach of a sizable healthcare creator community with the credibility of the nursing profession. Nurses rank as the third-most popular profession on TikTok, behind doctors and teachers, per a RegisteredNursing.org analysis. Nurses have also ranked as the most-trusted profession in Gallup’s annual Honesty and Ethics Ratings for nearly 25 years. For instance, 75% of Americans rated nurses’ honesty and ethical standards as high or very high in the latest survey.

Nurses’ credibility meets a relatively receptive audience on TikTok, where 54% of users ages 18 to 29 say some or most of the health information they see is trustworthy, followed by 35% of ages 30 to 49 and 30% of ages 50+, per July 2025 KFF health data. While humor may command the most attention, professional credentials still help attract health influencer audiences. Among US consumers who follow health influencers on social media, 65% follow or engage with doctors or other medical professionals versus someone with a medical condition of interest (48%), celebrities (25%), and caregivers (22%), according to EMARKETER’s US Digital Health 2026 survey.

Implications for pharma and healthcare marketers: Nurses’ proximity to patients via hands-on care can make them feel more approachable than physicians, giving marketers a messenger who can carry both warmth and credibility on social media. The NPHub engagement data suggests that straightforward health education may not be enough to draw interest. Nurse partnerships should lean into nurses’ humor and everyday experiences to make disease awareness, treatment discussions, and patient support less clinical and more accessible. Marketers need to preserve the credibility that makes nurses valuable by verifying credentials, protecting patient privacy, clearly disclosing sponsorships, and keeping humor from minimizing serious conditions or treatment risks.