[Study on press coverage about the exodus of Spanish nurses to the United Kingdom]. / Estudio de las noticias publicadas en prensa del éxodo de enfermeras españolas al Reino Unido.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To analyse the media representation of the exodus of Spanish nurses to the United Kingdom through general information newspapers. METHODS: Content analysis, quantitative and qualitative. Documents published in the newspapers ABC, El País, El Mundo and La Razón, about "emigrants," "nurses" and "migrant health workers," were located from January 1, 2007, to December 31, 2016, with Boolean operators. This selected period corresponds to the beginning of the economic crisis and concludes in the year of the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom. After applying the descriptors, 9559 texts were obtained. Once the noise of the documents was eliminated, 484 textual units were found. To carry out a more exhaustive analysis, the specific documents on "migrant nurses", which were 77, were selected and analysed qualitatively. RESULTS: a) 2013 was the year in which the most stories about emigration in general were published, and also about nurses in particular; b) the ABC newspaper published the most stories about the exodus of nurses to the United Kingdom (31); c) El País published the most texts on Spanish emigration, with a total of 397 documents; d) 98% of the headlines analysed (n = 77) had a negative tone; and e) social discourse had greater relevance than political discourse. CONCLUSIONS: The press promoted the push factor for nurses to migrate to the United Kingdom.