Background: Metaphorical analysis of nursing presents a valuable opportunity to describe, understand, and explore this profession.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze through metaphor how nurses receiving postgraduate education perceive the nursing profession.

Methodology: This mixed methods, descriptive study included 85 postgraduate nursing students who volunteered to participate. The data were collected using a Descriptive characteristic data such as age, employment status and duration were collected and the students were asked to complete the statement “A nurse is like…. because...”. The metaphors were coded and categorized, then analyzed for associations with the students’ descriptive characteristics.

Results: It was found that 81% of the postgraduate nursing students were master degree, 93.7% were female; and their average age was 27±4.73. According to the findings of the study, the postgraduate nursing students identified 50 metaphors for the nursing profession that were grouped into 13 categories based on conceptual themes. Of the 50 metaphors produced by the participants, 38 (76%) metaphors were positive and 12 (24%) metaphors were negative in nature. The two most common metaphors were “mother”(n= 7, 8.8%) and “angel”(n= 7, 8.8%).

Conclusions: Metaphors can be used as a powerful intellectual tool to describe, bring multifaceted meaning to, and develop new insights about the nursing profession with our cognitive perceptions.