Navigating the transition shock: a study on the professional socialization of nursing students based on Douyin content—A comparison of manual thematic analysis and analysis assisted by large language models

Clinical internships are a critical stage in the professional socialisation of nursing students, but negative experiences during these internships may lead to a decline in professional identity or even the loss of talent. The Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok) platform features many internship narratives spontaneously shared by nursing interns, providing a unique data source for understanding their narrative expressions; however, systematic qualitative research on this topic remains lacking. This study explores the thematic characteristics of professional socialisation among nursing interns on the Douyin platform and compares manual thematic analysis with analysis using the DeepSeek R1 large language model in theme identification. Using a human-machine parallel qualitative research design, we collected 40 short videos posted by nursing interns and 431 valid comments from Douyin. We conducted manual thematic analysis (using NVivo 12) and an independent analysis using the DeepSeek R1 large language model. Using Duchscher’s three-stage model of transitional shock as the theoretical framework, we systematically compared the thematic identification results of the two methods. The integrated thematic matrix shows that nursing interns’ narratives revolve around three themes tied to the stages of their clinical practice: the early stage is marked by value conflicts; the middle stage by superficial role identification; and the late stage by a tendency toward either professional self-integration or professional disengagement. This study tentatively summarises the above phenomena as “structural value disconnection,” “the tension between superficial adaptation and deep internalisation,” and “value-integration outcomes” versus “value-disengagement outcomes.” These concepts are inductive descriptions based on cross-sectional data and require further validation through longitudinal research. The three stages correspond to the “Doing-Being-Knowing” framework in Duchscher’s theory of transitional shock and involve three aspects of professional socialisation: acquiring knowledge and skills, internalising values and norms, and forming role identity. Under the specific input conditions of this study (manual exposure to multimodal information, with DeepSeek R1 receiving only text), the two methods showed strong consistency in identifying core themes. At the same time, each captured complementary themes that the other missed. Nursing interns’ narratives reflect thematic patterns tied to the internship phase, showing a progression from value conflicts and superficial adaptation to internalisation or withdrawal. The complementary nature of manual analysis and large language model analysis provides a methodological framework for qualitative research in nursing. The findings suggest that educators should integrate value guidance throughout the entire clinical practicum process and, through measures such as pre-practicum psychological preparation, improvement of the mentor-student relationship, and comprehensive psychological support mechanisms, facilitate students’ transition from behavioural compliance to value alignment.