Holiday Inn Express!
Over the past decade+, we’ve seen the conversion of what used to be in-person learning sessions transition to online learning. Healthcare “influencers” taking to social media with 30-second soundbites that lead to likes and shares, and if you have a big enough online presence, maybe even $$$.
However, accuracy, context, complexities of thought, and meaningful discussions are often compromised, limited by time, characters, and experience.
There used to be a series of Holiday Inn Express commercials, depicting a man in an operating room conducting surgery. When the staff realizes he is not the surgeon, he acknowledges them and states that he did stay at a Holiday Inn Express the night before…
So, has social media had a Holiday Inn Express effect on nursing?
In an era dominated by TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts, education, like everything else, is being compressed into soundbites. While this format is undeniably engaging and accessible, it poses serious risks to the depth, accuracy, and retention of learning.
1. Oversimplification of Complex Topics
Short-form video content thrives on simplicity. But in the pursuit of brevity, essential context is often stripped away. Complex healthcare concepts, social justice frameworks, or historical narratives can’t be responsibly distilled into 20 seconds without omitting critical nuance. Learners may walk away with partial truths or worse, misinformation, believing they have the full picture.
2. Illusion of Mastery
Bite-sized content can create a false sense of competency. Watching a few snappy clips on leadership, clinical skills, or policy reform may feel informative, but passive consumption isn’t learning. True understanding requires reflection, critical thinking, mentorship, and application, none of which happen in a scroll.
3. Erosion of Attention and Critical Thinking
The dopamine-fueled scroll cycle rewires the brain to expect instant gratification. This trains learners to skim, not analyze; to absorb, not interrogate. As attention spans shorten, the capacity to engage in sustained critical discourse, essential in nursing, science, policy, or civic life, diminishes.
4. Echo Chambers and Algorithmic Learning
Algorithms feed what users like, not what they need. This fosters echo chambers that reinforce biases and limit exposure to diverse perspectives. In professional and academic settings, this can be intellectually dangerous, preventing learners from encountering challenging but necessary counterpoints.
5. Devaluing Educators and Deep Learning Environments
When flashy, unvetted clips go viral, expert-led, evidence-informed content often gets buried. Educators are under increasing pressure to “entertain” rather than educate, and platforms reward speed over substance. This undermines academic rigor and devalues professional teaching.
Short clips have a place in sparking interest, summarizing concepts, or reinforcing prior learning and should be used by educators. But they should be a gateway, not the goal. Educators must pair digital literacy with content literacy, helping learners recognize the limits of soundbite education.
In nursing, the most ethical and trusted profession in healthcare, where lives are literally on the line, depth matters. Let’s stop mistaking likes, number of views, post impressions, and follows for understanding and education.
