AN INTERPRETIVE STUDY OF THE NATURE AND ROLE OF THE TALK OF WOMEN IN EXPERT NURSE PRACTICE.
Contributors: Adelphi University.
Published: 1989
Number of pages: 215
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Women's Studies.
Description: The talk of women, which is the form and content of their speech, is influenced by the private and public spheres in which women live and work. Nursing, which is a profession dominated by women, incorporates a form and content of speech which is consistent with the qualities of the talk of women described in the literature.

The expert professional nurse blends theory, technical expertise, clinical experience, and use of self in the practice of nursing. The study of expert nurse practice is of particular interest in nursing since it illuminates how nurses make a difference in patient care.

This study explored the nature and role of the talk of women in expert nurse practice. The sample consisted of seven expert registered professional nurses who had a minimum of five years experience in a clinical specialty and were currently employed by a large medical center. Subjects were nominated by peers and supervisors.

Data was obtained through participant observation. Each nurse was observed by the researcher for two four-hour sessions in the clinical setting. The nurses were interviewed to seek clarification of specific observations. All observation sessions were tape-recorded. Field notes were recorded at convenient times during each observation session. Tapes were transcribed after each observation. Field notes and transcripts of tapes were coded and reviewed for emergent themes.

Themes that emerged from this study were: (a) expert nurses serve as interpreters; (b) expert nurses utilize question posing as a way of drawing out their patients; (c) expert nurses talk fluently with patients about the everyday and the practical; (d) expert nurses utilize humor; (e) expert nurses have intimate communication with their patients; (f) expert nurses acquire and share information via anecdotes; (g) expert nurses communicate in a non-authoritative manner via the use of tag-questions, weaker expletives, and a rising inflection at the end of each sentence; (h) the talk of expert nurses often sounds polite; (i) expert nurses frequently use verbal and vocal fluencies and fillers; and (j) expert nurses permit patients to talk on and on about almost anything. The ancillary themes that emerged from this study were: (a) expert nurses tell of their professional lives in relation to their first nursing position post graduation and their coming to their current place of employment, and (b) expert nurses speak of their private lives along with their professional lives.

This study illustrated the merging of the private world of the nurse as a woman with the public world of the nurse as a professional. Findings suggest that nursing offers a unique opportunity for the talk of the private world of the woman to merge with the talk of the public world.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-05, Section: B, page: 1858.

Thesis (PH.D.)--ADELPHI UNIVERSITY, 1989.

School code: 0001.