“My mom had to leave the house and work overseas to provide for me,” John Dela Cruz, BSN, RN, affectionately known as Nurse John on Instagram and TikTok, recalls. With his mom out of the house, his grandparents stepped in. "One day we noticed my grandfather was throwing up blood and losing weight. We didn't know at the time that it was lung cancer, stage four. They said he had six months to live." 

The experience was a turning point for Dela Cruz: He decided to become a nurse. "I couldn't think of any other profession but nursing where you treat strangers like families.” Dela Cruz wanted to help strangers navigate situations similar to his own, and to help them feel peace amidst crisis.

You wouldn’t think his nursing journey was born of tragedy if you scrolled past his social media accounts, however. In his skits, he’s donned everything from wigs to colorful scrubs and he has a talent for saying what many nurses are thinking, but often can’t say out loud. For example, in one video he exclaims “Bestie, I beg your pardon?” after discovering his imaginary patient has climbed into the ceiling for the hypothetical hundredth time. 

But it’s that juxtaposition that makes Dela Cruz appealing to his nearly seven million TikTok followers. He represents the duality of nursing: Nurses suffer hard, but they can still laugh hard, too. 

Viral? Like, Not Vaccinated? 

Dela Cruz hit the bedside running after nursing school right around the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. He remembers the challenges of imposter syndrome and loneliness. "The pressure of saving people's lives was crushing. I didn't have support. I didn't have a sense of 'Hey, you're not alone. You're not the only one going through this.'" At the time, TikTok had just hit its meteoric rise, which provided the sense of community he was longing for. It was just people dancing at first, Dela Cruz recollects, but then people started posting a wider variety of videos. 

"It was kind of like my escape." Dela Cruz would pull up the app during breaks. One fateful day in the locker room, he opened his camera and thought: You know what? I'm just going to film myself crying. He saved the video to his phone; he'd show friends and coworkers later and laugh about it. 

"Code blue," the intercom called.

Dela Cruz threw his phone into his pocket and rushed to the affected patient. The video was immediately and unintentionally posted to TikTok, where it garnered over a million likes in less than 48 hours. Without context, Dela Cruz's friends told him he went viral, and the social media newbie questioned, "Viral? Like, not vaccinated?" 

Embracing the Silliness 

Dela Cruz quickly learned what it meant to have millions of people watching. "My suffering was someone else's joy. But it was too funny. People in the comment section told me they had the same experiences [crying] at work. I was embarrassed about it, but they told me to keep posting.”

As a self-proclaimed introvert, posting didn't come naturally to Dela Cruz at first. 

He feels fueled by the positivity of his audience. He doesn't only have nurses watching him; he's also had patients reach out and tell them his videos have helped them get through chemotherapy, or attorneys who like to watch at the law firm during lunch. 

Dela Cruz says he's proud of taking the stigma away from the hospital feeling like a negative place, and embracing laughter and silliness. 

Aligning with Trustworthy Brands: Garde Malade

As an established nurse influencer, Dela Cruz now has the opportunity to work with and share brands that align with his values. 

"For me, it's about representing something authentic. Garde Malade gives attention to the influencers they work with and they treat me like family." The brand started because the owner, Marie-Claude Parent, was supporting her husband through chemotherapy treatments and was touched by the nursing staff and healthcare workers. She wanted to design uniforms for them that were comfortable, but trendy.

Dela Cruz notes that sometimes in the hospital, the only scrubs around are XXXL. "I looked like a giant mascot. Or like I'm covered by a blanket." He and Garde Malade believe nurses should feel confident and beautiful when they go to work. Dela Cruz was eager to partner with the brand and admires the initiatives they take to support the healthcare community. Garde Malade is also made with 50% recycled materials.

Garde Malade is a French name translating to 'keeper of the sick,' which resonates with Dela Cruz. "That's what healthcare actually is. It's the connection and experience we have with people." 

The Pros and Cons of Influencer Life

Dela Cruz acknowledges the connections he has with others on social media can be both the best part of the job, as well as the most difficult.

He often gets messages thanking him for closing the generational divide between nurses. When coworkers range from Boomers to Gen Z, it can be hard to communicate and understand one another's values. Dela Cruz feels he is bridging some of this gap with his humor. He's also been the inspiration behind nurses leaving toxic workplaces for greener pastures. 

That doesn't stop him from receiving his fair share of hate, though. There's scrutiny that comes with putting your life into the public domain. "I make sure I put boundaries in place to not reveal my private life, my family, or my relationship. I want to keep some things private for myself. Everything else is public for people to know." 

Dela Cruz’s takeaway is ultimately, “I can have ten haters, but then if I have a million people who I’ve inspired, who are laughing, that's what I care about the most.”

Final Thoughts

Dela Cruz says he wants other nurses to understand that if they want to change career paths to something different in nursing, or even if they want to become a nurse influencer, "Just do it." He also says to unapologetically be yourself. "Maybe your mental illness could be someone else's mental illness.” Maybe your joke could be someone else's laugh.

For Dela Cruz, nursing isn't just a profession, it's a calling. "There's always something to look forward to. Prioritize yourself and your mental health. Because before you can pour anything in someone else's cup, yours has to be full and overflowing with self-love, self-care, and boundaries."

Don’t miss out on Nurse John’s antics–give him a follow on Instagram and TikTok. To see how Garde Malade is revolutionizing scrubs with a mission, check out their website.

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