A case in point? A parasuicide patient's recollections of being nursed: A discourse analysis
Kristy Morse
Registered Nurse, School of Nursing, Flinders University, Adelaide SA
PP: 234 - 243
Abstract
This paper highlights the recollections of being nursed from the perspective of a patient (Gabby) admitted to a general medical ward after attempting suicide. A discourse analysis was used to discuss the way in which Gabby was nursed, enabling identification of the social structure which supports the nurse-patient relationship.
This research evolved with the realisation that the point of view of parasuicide patients was primarily absent within nursing literature. Inattention within the literature was later replicated by Gabby's expressions of inadequate interaction between nurses and parasuicide patients.
Keywords
discourse analysis; parasuicide; nurse–patient relationship; patient's experience
References
Alavi C & Cattoni J (1995) Good nurse, bad nurse. Journal of Advanced Nursing 21: 344-349.
Armitage S (1980) Non-compliant recipients of health care. Nursing Times 76(1): 1-2.
Bailey S (1994) Critical care nurses' and doctors' Attitudes to parasuicide patients. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing 11(3): 11-17.
Bailey S (1998) An exploration of critical care nurses' and doctors attitudes towards psychiatric patients. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing 15(3): 8-14.
Brydon-Miller M (1984) Accessibility Self-Advocacy at an Independent Living Center: A Participatory Research Approach. PhD dissertation. University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Caplan A, Engelhardt H & McCartney J (1981) Concepts of Health and Disease: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, London.
Carrigan J (1994) The psychosocial needs of patients who have attempted suicide by overdose. Journal of Advanced Nursing 20: 635-642.
Cheek J & Rudge T (1994) Webs of documentation: The discourse of case notes. Australian Journal of Communication 21(2): 41-52.
Cheek J, Shoebridge J, Willis E & Zadorozynj M (1996) Society and Health, Social Theory for Health Workers. Longman, Melbourne.
Costigan J, Humphrey J & Murphy C (1986) Attempted suicide: A personal construct psychology exploration. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing 4(2): 39-50.
Davidhizar R & Vance A (1993) The management of the suicidal patient in a critical care unit. Journal of Nursing Management 1: 95-102
Derrida J (1976) Of Grammatology. Spivak G (transl.). John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
Dunleavey R (1992) An adequate response to a cry for help? Parasuicide patient's perceptions of their nursing care. Professional Nurse January: 213-215.
Dunn R & Morrish-Vidners D (1987-88) The psychological and social experience of suicide survivors. Omega 18(3): 175-215.
Fairclough N (1992) Discourse and Social Change. Polity Press, Cambridge, Oxford.
Fosbinder D (1994) Patient perceptions of nursing care: An emerging theory of interpersonal competence. Journal of Advanced Nursing 20: 1085-1093.
Foucault M (1972) The Archaeology of Knowledge. Tavistock, London.
Foucault M (1973) The Birth of the Clinic. Tavistock, London.
Foucault M (1980) Power/Knowledge. Hassocks, Sussex.
Gerteis M, Edgman-Levitan S, Daley J & Delbanco T (1993) Through the Patient's Eyes: Understanding and Promoting Patient Centered Care. Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco.
Gibbs A (1990) Aspects of communication with people who have attempted suicide. Journal of Advanced Nursing 15: 1245-1249.
Goldney R & Bottrill A (1980) Attitudes to patients who attempt suicide. The Medical Journal of Australia December: 717-720.
Heslop L (1997) The (im)possibilities of poststructuralist and critical social nursing inquiry. Nursing Inquiry 4: 48-56.
Ingram E & Ellis J (1992) Attitudes towards suicidal behaviour - A review of the literature. Death Studies 16: 31-43.
Jeffrey R (1979) Normal rubbish: Deviant patients in casualty departments. Sociology of Health and Illness 1(1): 90-107.
Johnson M & Webb C (1995) The power of social judgement: Struggle and negotiation in the nursing process. Nurse Education Today 15: 83-89.
Johnstone M (1999) Bioethics: A Nursing Perspective. Harcourt Sanders, Sydney.
Kelly M & May D (1982a) Chancers, pests and poor wee souls: Problems of legitimation in psychiatric nursing. Sociology of Health and Illness 4(3): 279-301.
Kelly M & May D (1982b) Good and bad patients: A review of the literature. Journal of Advanced Nursing 7: 147-156.
Latimer J (1997) Giving patients a future: The constituting of classes in an acute medical unit. Sociology of Health and Illness 19(2): 160-185.
Lupton D (1992) Discourse analysis: A new methodology for understanding the ideologies of health and illness. Australian Journal of Public Health 16(2): 145-150.
Macleod-Clarke J (1985) Development of research in interpersonal skills in nursing. In Kagan C (ed.) Interpersonal Skills in Nursing: Research and Applications. Croom Helm, London.
May C (1992) Individual care? Power and subjectivity in therapeutic relationships. Sociology 26(4): 589-602.
McLaughlin C (1999) An exploration of psychiatric nurses' and patients' opinions regarding in-patient care for suicidal patients. Journal of Advanced Nursing 29(5): 1042-1051.
Mitchell G. (1995) Quality of life: Intimacy in the nurse-person process. Nursing Science Quarterly 8: 102-103.
Morse K (1998) A Discourse Analysis of the Parasuicide Patient's Recollection of Being Nursed in a General Medical Ward. Unpublished Minor Thesis. Flinders University of South Australia, Adelaide.
Parker I (1991) Discourse Dynamics: Critical Analysis for Social and Individual Psychology. Routledge, New York.
Parker I & Burman E (1993) Against discursive imperialism, empiricism and constructionism: Thirty-two problems with discourse analysis. In Burman E & Parker I (eds) Discourse Analytic Research: Repertoires and Reading of Texts in Action. Routledge, London.
Parsons T (1951) The Social System. The Free Press, New York.
Patel A (1975) Attitudes towards self-poisoning. British Medical Journal 2: 426-29.
Philp M (1985) Michel Foucault. In Skinner Q (ed.) The Return of Grand Theory in the Human Sciences. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Powers P (1996) Discourse analysis as a methodology for nursing inquiry. Nursing Inquiry 3: 207-217.
Purkis M (1996) Nursing in quality space: Technologies governing experiences of care. Nursing Inquiry 3: 101-111.
Quested B (1998) Last Offices, Nursing Care of Dead Bodies: A Discursive Analysis. Minor Thesis. University of South Australia, Adelaide.
Reid W & Long A (1993)The role of the nurse providing therapeutic care for the suicidal patient. Journal of Advanced Nursing 18: 1369-1376.
Rempusheski V, Chamberlain S, Picard H, Ruzanski J & Collier M (1988) Expected and received care: Patient perceptions. Nursing Administration Quarterly 12(3): 42-50.
Talseth A, Lindseth A, Jacobsson L & Norberg A (1999) The meaning of suicidal psychiatric in-patients' experiences of being cared for by mental health nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing 29(5): 1034-1041.
Van Manen M (1998) Modalities of body experience in illness and health. Qualitative Health Research 8(1): 7-24.
Wiltshire J (1993)The patient's story: Towards a definition of pathography. Meridian.
eContent Home
