Katz, Jeanne (1989) Context and care : nurses' accounts of stress and support on a cancer ward. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This is a study of all ranks of nurses working on a cancer
ward in a London teaching hospital. Other than the sisters,
who had specialist oncology training, the nurses were not
self-selected, but simply were assigned to this particular
ward.
Nursing, as a job, is stressful (Menzies 1959). Nursing
cancer patients is believed to be particularly stressful;
nurses on cancer wards have been shown to manifest extreme
signs of stress which affect their perceptions of their work
and the quality of care patients receive as well as their own
health.
Using a symbolic interactionist approach, the purpose of this
study was to explore the issues of stress and support from
the perspective of nurses themselves. An important aspect of
the study was the use of repeated interviews which revealed
changes in nurses' experiences and ward practices over time.
Nurses did not identify illness category as a cause of
stress nor did they view additional psycho-social support as
necessary. Their accounts of how they experienced nursing
cancer patients provides insights into their ideology of
nursing. They spoke repeatedly of this being a "good ward"
where they could practice "good nursing." This thesis
explores how these nurses made sense of their work and felt
enabled to nurse cancer patients without experiencing
emotional distress. A theoretical explanation is proposed in
terms of the interaction between the context of nurses' work
(including the way in which it is structured and managed) and
their ideology which was based on the concept of caring.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	R Medicine > RT Nursing
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Cancer -- Hospitals -- England -- London, Cancer -- Nursing, Nurses -- Job stress
Official Date:	April 1989
Dates:	Date Event April 1989 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Sociology
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Stacey, Margaret ; Evers, Helen ; Burgess, Robert G. ; Currer, Caroline
Extent:	[11], 380 leaves
Language:	eng

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