Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Power in Telephone-advice Nursing

Leppänen, Vesa LU (2010) In Nursing Inquiry 17(1). p.14-25
Abstract
Power is a central aspect of nursing, especially in telephone-advice nursing, where nurses assess callers' medical problems and decide what measures that need to be taken. This article presents a framework for understanding how power operates in social interaction between nurses and callers in telephone-advice nursing in primary care in Sweden. Power is analysed as the result of nurses and callers being oriented to five social structures that are relevant to their actions in this context, namely the organization of telephone-advice nursing, the social stock of medical knowledge, the professional division of labour between nurses and doctors, structures of social interaction and structures of emotions. While structural constraints govern... (More)
Power is a central aspect of nursing, especially in telephone-advice nursing, where nurses assess callers' medical problems and decide what measures that need to be taken. This article presents a framework for understanding how power operates in social interaction between nurses and callers in telephone-advice nursing in primary care in Sweden. Power is analysed as the result of nurses and callers being oriented to five social structures that are relevant to their actions in this context, namely the organization of telephone-advice nursing, the social stock of medical knowledge, the professional division of labour between nurses and doctors, structures of social interaction and structures of emotions. While structural constraints govern some actions to a high degree, calls take place in an organizational free room that give nurses more leeway for acting more creatively. The discussion focuses on the introduction of new technologies of control, for instance computerized decision support systems and audio recording of calls, and on how they reduce the free room. Empirical data consist of 276 audio-recorded telephone calls to 13 nurses at six primary-care centres and of qualitative interviews with 18 nurses. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
sociology, sociologi
in
Nursing Inquiry
volume
17
issue
1
pages
14 - 25
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • wos:000274191900003
  • pmid:20137027
  • scopus:77949339193
ISSN
1440-1800
DOI
10.1111/j.1440-1800.2009.00480.x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
02c69f83-3776-4444-bf51-b44d84519208 (old id 1453922)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:09:30
date last changed
2022-02-04 02:46:56
@article{02c69f83-3776-4444-bf51-b44d84519208,
  abstract     = {{Power is a central aspect of nursing, especially in telephone-advice nursing, where nurses assess callers' medical problems and decide what measures that need to be taken. This article presents a framework for understanding how power operates in social interaction between nurses and callers in telephone-advice nursing in primary care in Sweden. Power is analysed as the result of nurses and callers being oriented to five social structures that are relevant to their actions in this context, namely the organization of telephone-advice nursing, the social stock of medical knowledge, the professional division of labour between nurses and doctors, structures of social interaction and structures of emotions. While structural constraints govern some actions to a high degree, calls take place in an organizational free room that give nurses more leeway for acting more creatively. The discussion focuses on the introduction of new technologies of control, for instance computerized decision support systems and audio recording of calls, and on how they reduce the free room. Empirical data consist of 276 audio-recorded telephone calls to 13 nurses at six primary-care centres and of qualitative interviews with 18 nurses.}},
  author       = {{Leppänen, Vesa}},
  issn         = {{1440-1800}},
  keywords     = {{sociology; sociologi}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{14--25}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Nursing Inquiry}},
  title        = {{Power in Telephone-advice Nursing}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1800.2009.00480.x}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/j.1440-1800.2009.00480.x}},
  volume       = {{17}},
  year         = {{2010}},
}