IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v60y2005i4p845-857.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The teleo-affective limits of end-of-life care in the intensive care unit

Author

Listed:
  • Iedema, Rick
  • Sorensen, Roslyn
  • Braithwaite, Jeffrey
  • Flabouris, Arthas
  • Turnbull, Liz

Abstract

This paper explores the relevance of a specific kind of sensed connectedness or 'teleo-affectivity' to the organisation and enactment of end-of-life care. Referred to as heedful inter-relating, this teleo-affective connectedness has been found to occur among employees as they carry out their highly complex and dangerous work. This paper focuses on the proposals put in the literature for confronting the complexity of end-of-life care in the intensive care unit (ICU), and inquires into the positionings incurred in and around end-of-life care in one specific unit, with the aim of gauging the pertinence of heedful inter-relating to end-of-life care in ICU. The paper argues that while several commentators appear to be calling for enhanced heedful conduct in end-of-life care, ICU practices may not admit the kind of heedful inter-relating that is evident in high-reliability organisations such as nuclear aircraft carriers. We suggest it may be unwise to gauge intensive care units' complexity purely against the brief of realising cultural scripts of the dying, and that ICU in fact manifests a broader societal concern necessitating a more variegated composition: to devise multiple ways to contain the impression and impact of (the meaning) death for society (societies) generally.

Suggested Citation

  • Iedema, Rick & Sorensen, Roslyn & Braithwaite, Jeffrey & Flabouris, Arthas & Turnbull, Liz, 2005. "The teleo-affective limits of end-of-life care in the intensive care unit," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(4), pages 845-857, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:60:y:2005:i:4:p:845-857
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(04)00291-6
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Melia, Kath M., 2001. "Ethical issues and the importance of consensus for the intensive care team," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 53(6), pages 707-719, September.
    2. Long, Susan Orpett, 2004. "Cultural scripts for a good death in Japan and the United States: similarities and differences," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(5), pages 913-928, March.
    3. Seale, Clive, 2000. "Changing patterns of death and dying," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(6), pages 917-930, September.
    4. Kaufman, Sharon R., 2003. "Hidden places, uncommon persons," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 56(11), pages 2249-2261, June.
    5. Casey, Edward S., 2003. "From space to place in contemporary health care," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 56(11), pages 2245-2247, June.
    6. Seymour, Jane Elizabeth, 2000. "Negotiating natural death in intensive care," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(8), pages 1241-1252, October.
    7. Seymour, Jane Elizabeth, 1999. "Revisiting medicalisation and 'natural' death," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 49(5), pages 691-704, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Le Theule, Marie-Astrid & Lambert, Caroline & Morales, Jérémy, 2023. "Accounting to the end of life. Scarcity, performance and death," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    2. Marie-Astrid Le Theule & Caroline Lambert & Jérémy Morales, 2020. "Governing Death: Organizing End-of-life Situations," Post-Print hal-03534172, HAL.
    3. Marie-Astrid Le Theule & Caroline Lambert & Jérémy Morales, 2017. "Accompanying death, organising the end of life [Accompagner la mort, organiser la fin de vie]," Post-Print hal-03654015, HAL.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Carmel, Simon, 2006. "Health care practices, professions and perspectives: A case study in intensive care," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(8), pages 2079-2090, April.
    2. Aita, Kaoruko & Kai, Ichiro, 2010. "Physicians' psychosocial barriers to different modes of withdrawal of life support in critical care: A qualitative study in Japan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(4), pages 616-622, February.
    3. Stonington, Scott D., 2012. "On ethical locations: The good death in Thailand, where ethics sit in places," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(5), pages 836-844.
    4. Lang, Alexander & Frankus, Elisabeth & Heimerl, Katharina, 2022. "The perspective of professional caregivers working in generalist palliative care on ‘good dying’: An integrative review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    5. Natalie Pattison & Jude Mclellan & Lara Roskelly & Kirsty McLeod & Theresa Wiseman, 2018. "Managing clinical uncertainty: An ethnographic study of the impact of critical care outreach on end‐of‐life transitions in ward‐based critically ill patients with a life‐limiting illness," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(21-22), pages 3900-3912, November.
    6. Nettleton, Sarah & Kitzinger, Jenny & Kitzinger, Celia, 2014. "A diagnostic illusory? The case of distinguishing between “vegetative” and “minimally conscious” states," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 134-141.
    7. Marie-Astrid Le Theule & Caroline Lambert & Jérémy Morales, 2017. "Accompanying death, organising the end of life [Accompagner la mort, organiser la fin de vie]," Post-Print hal-03654015, HAL.
    8. Brown, Tim & Bell, Morag, 2008. "Imperial or postcolonial governance? Dissecting the genealogy of a global public health strategy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(10), pages 1571-1579, November.
    9. Joachim Cohen & Paul Landeghem & Nico Carpentier & Luc Deliens, 2014. "Public acceptance of euthanasia in Europe: a survey study in 47 countries," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 59(1), pages 143-156, February.
    10. Long, Tracy & Sque, Magi & Addington-Hall, Julia, 2008. "Conflict rationalisation: How family members cope with a diagnosis of brain stem death," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 253-261, July.
    11. Lang, Alexander, 2020. "The good death and the institutionalisation of dying: An interpretive analysis of the Austrian discourse," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    12. Ikegami, Naoki & Ikezaki, Sumie, 2012. "Japan's policy of promoting end-of-life care in nursing homes: Impact on facility and resident characteristics associated with the site of death," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(2), pages 303-311.
    13. Joanna Broad & Merryn Gott & Hongsoo Kim & Michal Boyd & He Chen & Martin Connolly, 2013. "Where do people die? An international comparison of the percentage of deaths occurring in hospital and residential aged care settings in 45 populations, using published and available statistics," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 58(2), pages 257-267, April.
    14. Jelle van Gurp & Olaitan Soyannwo & Kehinde Odebunmi & Simpa Dania & Martine van Selm & Evert van Leeuwen & Kris Vissers & Jeroen Hasselaar, 2015. "Telemedicine’s Potential to Support Good Dying in Nigeria: A Qualitative Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(6), pages 1-15, June.
    15. Vandrevala, Tushna & Hampson, Sarah E. & Daly, Tom & Arber, Sara & Thomas, Hilary, 2006. "Dilemmas in decision-making about resuscitation--a focus group study of older people," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(7), pages 1579-1593, April.
    16. Takezako, Yayoi & Tamiya, Nanako & Kajii, Eiji, 2007. "The nursing home versus the hospital as the place of dying for nursing home residents in Japan," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(2-3), pages 280-288, May.
    17. Agrizzi, Dila & Soobaroyen, Teerooven & Alsalloom, Abeer, 2021. "Spatiality and accounting: The case of female segregation in audit firms," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    18. Shawn F. Dorius, 2008. "Global Demographic Convergence? A Reconsideration of Changing Intercountry Inequality in Fertility," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 34(3), pages 519-537, September.
    19. Gjødsbøl, Iben M. & Koch, Lene & Svendsen, Mette N., 2017. "Resisting decay: On disposal, valuation, and care in a dementia nursing home in Denmark," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 116-123.
    20. Margaret O'Connor, 2006. "Commentary on Trovo de Araujo M and Paes da Silva MJ (2004) Communication with dying patients: perception of intensive care units nurses in Brazil. Journal of Clinical Nursing 13, 143–149," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(1), pages 114-116, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:60:y:2005:i:4:p:845-857. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.