Za drzwiami oddziału. Badania etnograficzne w szpitalu
Behind the ward door. Ethnographic research in the hospital

Author(s): Dominika Byczkowska-Owczarek, Anna Kubczak, Beata Pawłowska
Subject(s): Anthropology, Social Sciences, Sociology, Health and medicine and law
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
Keywords: ethnography; qualitative methods; hospital; medicine; communication; emotions; management; uncertainty
Summary/Abstract: The book Behind the ward door. Ethnographic research in the hospital is the result of several months of ethnographic research conducted in three hospital wards. It discusses the realities of work, showing the difficulties faced by hospital employees, which are often imperceptible to patients and their families. It shows the backstage of a medical institution, in which during the process of interaction meanings and contexts of work are negotiated. It introduces the organizational everyday life, seen through the eyes of medical staff. From the organizational ethnography perspective, by giving voice to their respondents, the authors analyzed the specifics of the ward as an organization, socially constructed space, management styles, the process of communication between representatives of medical staff, as well as the uncertainty and emotions experienced by medical professionals. The book is one of the few ethnographic Polish studies of conditions and contexts of work in hospital wards. The reading is recommended in particular to managers of health care institutions, but also to practitioners of communication in medicine, supporting and training health care workers in particular in the field of working with emotions and managing a medical team.

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