A Love Letter to Nurses – Why Positive Representation of Nursing in Popular Culture is So Important

Becky Hender, Cavell Communications Team

It’s not every day that a music video stops you in your tracks, but the video to Yungblud’s latest single Zombie has done exactly that.

Directed by Charlie Sarsfield and starring the magnificent Florence Pugh, the video is ‘a love letter to nurses’, delivering a hauntingly intimate performance of a nurse grappling with loss, duty, and the invisible weight carried by so many working on the front lines. For those of us who know and support nursing professionals, it is a moving reminder of the bravery and courage they bring to their work every single day.

Too often, the stories we see about nursing in the media focus on the minority: the rare scandals or dramatic headlines. Meanwhile, every single day nurses and midwives across the UK are going above and beyond for their patients. Yungblud choosing to share the reality of nursing – the hand to hold and the light during somebody’s darkest days – helps us rewrite the narrative and reflects the true heart of the nursing profession.

Director Charlie Sarsfield shared with Little Black Book:

“Zombie is a film close to my heart. My gran was a nurse, and I saw first-hand the compassion and strength it takes to do that job. Even when she fell ill, the nurses were nothing short of angels. That experience shaped this story and connected deeply with what Dom [Yungblud] wrote the song about. Dom threw a Hail Mary and asked Florence if she’d be in it – she said yes, and the stars aligned. What we captured was truly special. This film is for the unsung heroes – those who don’t always see their own wings. We just wanted to help them see them.”

With the recruitment challenge in nursing as urgent as ever, powerful portrayals like this one are more important than we might realise. While the video shows the emotional toll nursing can take, it doesn’t dwell in despair, but leaves a lasting impression of how deeply rewarding the role can be and how profoundly nurses impact the lives of their patients. Positive representation doesn’t require the sugarcoating of reality, as this film proves – it offers instead a raw and respectful tribute to a workforce so often overshadowed by negative headlines in the media.

Cavell is the charity supporting nurses going through a tough time – here so every nursing and midwifery professional feels supported, valued, and empowered to care for the nation.

Watch the video here