IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v119y2014icp131-138.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Re-conceptualising holism in the contemporary nursing mandate: From individual to organisational relationships

Author

Listed:
  • Allen, Davina

Abstract

Over the last forty years, nursing's claim to professional expertise has been expressed in terms of its care-giving function. Informed by a distinctive ‘holistic’ approach, models of nursing identify therapeutic relationships as the cornerstone of practice. While ‘knowing the patient’ has been central to clinicians' occupational identity, research reveals that nurses not only experience significant material constraints in realising these ideals, their contribution to healthcare extends far beyond direct work with patients. Amidst growing concern about healthcare quality, a body of critical commentary has emerged proposing that the contemporary nursing mandate, with its exclusive focus on care-giving, is no longer serving the interests of the profession or the public. Drawing on an ethnographic study of UK hospital nurses' ‘organising work’ and insights from practice-based approaches and actor network theory, this paper lays the foundations for a re-conceptualisation of holism within the nursing mandate centred on organisational rather than therapeutic relationships. Nurses can be understood as obligatory passage points in health systems and through myriad processes of ‘translational mobilisation’ sustain the networks through which care is organised.

Suggested Citation

  • Allen, Davina, 2014. "Re-conceptualising holism in the contemporary nursing mandate: From individual to organisational relationships," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 131-138.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:119:y:2014:i:c:p:131-138
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.08.036
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953614005620
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.08.036?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    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. Armstrong, David, 1983. "The fabrication of nurse-patient relationships," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 17(8), pages 457-460, January.
    2. Elizabeth Goodrick & Trish Reay, 2010. "Florence Nightingale Endures: Legitimizing a New Professional Role Identity," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1), pages 55-84, January.
    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. Liberati, Elisa Giulia, 2017. "Separating, replacing, intersecting: The influence of context on the construction of the medical-nursing boundary," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 135-143.
    2. Mette Geil Kollerup & Tine Curtis & Birgitte Schantz Laursen, 2018. "Improving posthospital medication management in a Danish municipality: A process evaluation," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(19-20), pages 3603-3612, October.
    3. Jennifer Tocher & Barbara Neades & Graeme D. Smith & Daniel Kelly, 2019. "The role of specialist nurses for organ donation: A solution for maximising organ donation rates?," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(9-10), pages 2020-2027, May.
    4. Fatima Yatim & Marie Ferrua & Paula Cristofalo & Anne Girault & Marilene Lacaze & Mario Di Palma & Etienne Minvielle, 2017. "Analysis of nurse navigators’ activities for hospital discharge coordination: a mixed method study for the case of cancer patients," Post-Print hal-03769102, HAL.
    5. Fatima Yatim & Paula Cristofalo & Marie Ferrua & Anne Girault & Marilène Lacase & Mario Dipalma & E. Minvielle, 2017. "Analysis of nurse navigators’ activities for hospital discharge coordination: a mixed method study for the case of cancer patients," Post-Print hal-03769421, HAL.
    6. Liberati, Elisa Giulia & Gorli, Mara & Scaratti, Giuseppe, 2016. "Invisible walls within multidisciplinary teams: Disciplinary boundaries and their effects on integrated care," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 31-39.

    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. Virginie Xhauflair & Benjamin Huybrechts & François Pichault, 2018. "How Can New Players Establish Themselves in Highly Institutionalized Labour Markets? A Belgian Case Study in the Area of Project†Based Work," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(2), pages 370-394, June.
    2. Wen, Man & Zhang, Shaoying & McGhee, Derek, 2023. "From Preventing physical infection to managing affective contagion: An initial study of daily nursing practices in the early outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    3. O’Kane, Conor & Mangematin, Vincent & Geoghegan, Will & Fitzgerald, Ciara, 2015. "University technology transfer offices: The search for identity to build legitimacy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 421-437.
    4. Madeline Sands & Robert Aunger, 2020. "Determinants of hand hygiene compliance among nurses in US hospitals: A formative research study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(4), pages 1-29, April.
    5. Fischer, Eileen & Rebecca Reuber, A., 2014. "Online entrepreneurial communication: Mitigating uncertainty and increasing differentiation via Twitter," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 565-583.
    6. Anderson-Gough, Fiona & Edgley, Carla & Robson, Keith & Sharma, Nina, 2022. "Organizational responses to multiple logics: Diversity, identity and the professional service firm," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    7. Daniel Muzio & David M. Brock & Roy Suddaby, 2013. "Professions and Institutional Change: Towards an Institutionalist Sociology of the Professions," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(5), pages 699-721, July.
    8. O'Kane, Conor & Mangematin, Vincent & Zhang, Jing A. & Cunningham, James A., 2020. "How university-based principal investigators shape a hybrid role identity," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    9. Patriotta, Gerardo & Spedale, Simona, 2011. "Micro-interaction dynamics in group decision making: Face games, interaction order and boundary work," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 362-374.
    10. Mai Chi Vu & Hyemi Shin & Nicholas Burton, 2024. "“We are Neither Commies nor Volunteers”: How National Culture Influences Professional Identity Construction of CSR Professionals in South Korea," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 191(1), pages 195-213, April.
    11. Penny Dick, 2015. "To See Ourselves As Others See Us? Incorporating the Constraining Role of Socio-Cultural Practices in the Theorization of Micropolitical Resistance," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 16-35, January.
    12. Slade Shantz, Angelique & Kistruck, Geoffrey & Zietsma, Charlene, 2018. "The opportunity not taken: The occupational identity of entrepreneurs in contexts of poverty," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 416-437.
    13. Elizabeth Goodrick & Lee C. Jarvis & Trish Reay, 2020. "Preserving a Professional Institution: Emotion in Discursive Institutional Work," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(4), pages 735-774, June.
    14. Conor O'Kane & Vincent Mangematin & Will Geoghegan & Ciara Fitzgerald, 2015. "University Technology Transfer offices : the search for identity to build legimacy," Post-Print hal-01072998, HAL.
    15. Graeme Currie & Charlotte Croft, 2015. "Examining hybrid nurse managers as a case of identity transition in healthcare: developing a balanced research agenda," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 29(5), pages 855-865, October.
    16. Lindström, Sara, 2016. "‘An army of our own’: Legitimating the professional position of HR through well-being at work," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 189-196.
    17. Styhre, Alexander & Szczepanska, Anna Maria & Remneland-Wikhamn, Björn, 2018. "Consecrating video games as cultural artifacts: Intellectual legitimation as a source of industry renewal," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 22-28.
    18. Robson, Keith & Ezzamel, Mahmoud, 2023. "The cultural fields of accounting practices: Institutionalization and accounting changes beyond the organization," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    19. André Spicer & Graham Sewell, 2010. "From National Service to Global Player: Transforming the Organizational Logic of a Public Broadcaster," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(6), pages 913-943, September.
    20. Krista L. Pettit & Mary M. Crossan, 2020. "Strategic renewal: Beyond the functional resource role of occupational members," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(6), pages 1112-1138, June.

    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:119:y:2014:i:c:p:131-138. 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.