Jorge Prieto is a nurse whose speech at Wanda Metropolitano stadium on 2 June went viral, as he thanked those who attended the stadium to be vaccinated. Jorge is an Alumni of Universidad Europea, having completed the Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing and Master in Urgent and Emergency Care.
With more than 6,000 views in just two days, Jorge, a Summa 112 nurse and alumni of Universidad Europea, touched the hearts of many people with his witty monologue in which he thanked the people who were vaccinated at the Metropolitano.
Of course, here at Alumni Stories we wanted to know more about him and to find out how he felt in the few days after his video went viral at such a delicate time during the pandemic.
“We were told that we had to recommend these vaccinations and I realised that people weren’t paying much attention to us. I decided to use humour as the key to opening that door and to get through to people. Also, in this society ruled by technology, everyone has a phone and we’re always stuck to it. And it worked. In the first speeches, I noticed that people only had lots of questions, but in the last ones, all they wanted was to say thank you, and people even participated in their own vaccination process,” says Jorge.
Following the questions many people had about the vaccination process, Jorge was able to give peace of mind and ensure trust. The trending nurse says the key to his work is found in the passion he feels for his profession. To get to this point, Jorge took his first steps at Universidad Europea, where he began his Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing and completed it in 2019. A year later he decided to specialise by doing the Master’s Degree in Urgent, Emergency and Critical Care Nursing at the same institution. “I’m really grateful to Universidad Europea, especially for its high level of simulation content through its Simulated Hospital, as it gives you a complete experience and allows you to interact with the patient,” said Jorge.
Jorge also wanted to highlight that he’s “given so much importance to the social side of things, to humanised care and the communication skills they teach and that have led me to where I am today. In the end, these speeches that I give do nothing else but humanise, and it’s just another way of using my nursing knowledge verbally. I remember in class when I had to present projects, I was already showing my potential and that’s something that’s stayed with me, to not be afraid of public speaking”.
A little under a week later, the video went viral throughout Spain. It was received well and got a lot of praise on the Internet and on social media, where he’s been dubbed the “showman nurse”.
“This has been truly crazy for me. I never would’ve imagined that they’d record me, let alone that I’d go viral”, says Jorge.
With his goal achieved, which was to give people peace of mind and provide a more human, approachable outlook after a very difficult year and a half, Jorge wanted to share his message, assuring that this kind of attitude is “the only tool we have to come out of this”. And what’s clear is that those who went to the stadium for a vaccine came out with something else just as valuable: a smile.
“I’m so pleased for this message to get across to all audiences, above all young people whose turn it is to get a vaccine next. We have to live with more peace of mind, we have to laugh even at ourselves because it’s the one simple tool we have to protect our emotional well-being. In this society, which gets more complicated as time goes on, it’s really important to never stop smiling and to strive to keep going”.
Below, you can watch the video showing the monologue from Jorge, our alumni and very own “showman nurse”.