Procedure manuals and textually mediated deathThe procedure manual as a document represents the practice of nursing care. Analysis of such manuals allows us to explore discourses of nursing and the ways in which they frame nursing practice. A critical analysis of a hospital procedure manual using discourse analysis was undertaken. A specific excerpt concerning ‘Last offices’ is used as an example of the institutionalisation of organisational values and beliefs as these influence nursing care. ‘Last offices’ directs nursing practices related to (...) the death of a patient, and the laying out as preparation for the funeral director or coroner. The analysis shows that procedure manuals reproduce hegemonic ideologies of nursing. The analysis also shows how nursing practices are constituted by intersecting forces of differing locations such as the hospital as an organisation, the healthcare system and the wider society within which these function. (shrink)

MIRÓ M, GASTALDO D, NELSON S and GALLEGO G. Nursing Inquiry 2012; 19: 270–280 Spanish nursing under Franco: reinvention, modernization and repression (1956–1976)This article examines Spanish nursing during a critical 20‐year period (1956–76) when, under the dictatorial government of General Franco, nursing became the target of a modernization strategy. In the national standardized system of state‐run schools, the previously distinct nursing and midwifery programmes were merged into a new training programme which created the single professional denomination of ATS–Ayudante Técnico Sanitario (...) (Technical Sanitary Assistant). Under the leadership of medicine, and with the blessing of the Catholic Church and the Sección Femenina (Women’s Section of the Falangist Party), nursing was positioned as feminized and subordinate to medicine, a predominantly male profession in mid‐twentieth century Spain. This article discusses this crucial phase of Spanish nursing history by focusing on one influential historical document (published in 1956), Professional Moral Orientation for the Sanitary Technical Assistants, a nursing textbook on professional morals for first‐year nursing students written by Rosamaria Miranda, a Catholic nun and a trained nurse. Our analysis reveals that gender‐related and technical discourses concerning disciplinary and pastoral power relations presented in this textbook legitimate the core beliefs of Franquism put forward by the politically powerful women’s branch of the ruling Falangist Party in mid‐twentieth century Spain. (shrink)

This article sets out a global analysis of the weaknesses, threats, strengths and opportunities that define the current situation of nursing in Europe. The nursing profession in Europe is suffering from a crisis of self‐efficacy with the syndrome of burnout being one of its consequences. Other weaknesses include shortage of staff, job insecurity, devalued nursing image in society and the lack of recognition of emotional and psychological dimensions of care. The threats to this profession are linked to the lack of (...) prestige and social recognition and to the current economic crisis in Europe. The European economic crisis favours staff shortages and increased European migration flow. The strength of the group lies in the art of caring, which is its defining feature. Primary Care Nursing and Hospital Liaison Nursing demonstrate the great professional adaptability in meeting the needs of the ever‐changing society. The European Higher Education Area and the strengthening of the specialties provide opportunities for the nursing profession. Both represent an important progress towards solid professionalism that will give nursing greater visibility. Moreover, nursing must implement strategies to disseminate its activity and emerge from anonymity. Nursing must show society the image it wants to project. (shrink)

Nursing professionalization is both ongoing and global, being significant not only for the nursing workforce but also for patients and healthcare systems. For this reason, it is important to have an in‐depth understanding of this process and the factors that could affect it. This literature review utilizes a welfare state approach to examine macrolevel structural determinants of nursing professionalization, addressing a previously identified gap in this literature, and synthesizes research on the relevance of studying nursing professionalization. The use of a (...) welfare state framework facilitates the understanding that the wider social, economic, and political system exercises significant power over the distribution of resources in a society, providing a glimpse into the complex politics of health and health care. The findings shed light on structural factors outside of nursing, such as country‐level education, health, labor market, and gender policies that could impact the process of professionalization and thus could be utilized to strengthen nursing through facilitating increased professionalization levels. Addressing gender inequalities and other structural determinants of nursing professionalization could contribute to achieving health equity and could benefit health systems through enhanced availability, skill‐level, and sustainability of nursing human resources, improved and efficient access to care, improved patient outcomes, and cost savings. (shrink)

In this paper, we introduce the notion of ‘rupture’ from the French philosopher Michel Foucault, whose studies of discourse and governmentality have become prominent within nursing research during the last 25 years. We argue that a rupture perspective can be helpful for identifying and maintaining a critical potential within nursing research. The paper begins by introducing rupture as an inheritance from the French epistemological tradition. It then describes how rupture appears in Foucault's works, as both an overall philosophical approach and (...) as an analytic tool in his historical studies. Two examples of analytical applications of rupture are elaborated. In the first example, rupture has inspired us to make an effort to seek alternatives to mainstream conceptions of the phenomenon under study. In the second example, inspired by Foucault's work on discontinuity, we construct a framework for historical epochs in nursing history. The paper concludes by discussing the potential of the notion of rupture as a response to the methodological concerns regarding the use of Foucault‐inspired discourse analysis within nursing research. We agree with the critique of Cheek that the critical potential of discourse analysis is at risk of being undermined by research that tends to convert the approach into a fixed method. (shrink)