NURSE-THEMED INDONESIAN HORROR FILMS: A QUALITATIVE DESCRIPTIVE STUDY

Vollständiger Abstract

Worum geht es in dieser Arbeit?

Indonesian horror films often portray female nurses, or "suster," as ghostly, sexualized, or subservient figures, raising concerns about the impact on public perceptions of nursing. Although the representation of nurses in the media has been studied for decades, scholarly interest in the topic has significantly increased in recent years. This research aims to analyze Indonesian nursing students’ perceptions of nurse-themed horror films. The study employed a qualitative descriptive design within a constructivist–interpretivist framework to explore how Indonesian nursing students perceive these portrayals and how such representations shape their views of professional identity. Eight undergraduate nursing students from a private university in East Java participated in the study. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and a focus group discussion conducted after the viewing of five commercially released Indonesian horror films featuring prominent “suster” characters. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to examine how participants described and interpreted these portrayals. Methodologically, the study pairs shared media stimuli with reflexive thematic analysis, applies the principle of information power rather than data saturation to warrant sample size, and treats translation between Bahasa Indonesia and English as an analytic operation. Three primary themes were generated: (1) exploitation and eroticization of nurse bodies, encompassing ghostly nurse portrayals and sexualized nurse uniforms; (2) misleading portrayals of hospitals and nurse–doctor relationships, including haunted hospital imagery and reinforced nurse–doctor hierarchy; and (3) responses to nurse stereotypes in horror films, including personal coping strategies and intentions for collective resistance. Participants reported that these portrayals conflicted with their understanding of nursing ethics, professionalism, and identity. The study suggests that integrating media literacy into nursing education may help students critically assess and respond to media stereotypes and that the methodological design developed here offers a replicable template for future inquiries into how popular culture shapes professional identity.