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Dialogues@RU is published annually
by the
Writing Program at
Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey
Volume One
Spring 2002
Removing
Cultural Stereotypes to Find Real Differences
Between Doctors and Nurses -
Page 5
by Jon Laor
Willis gives us a new perspective from the point of view of male nurses doing emotional labor. They view themselves as more focused in the emotional work because "they are excluded from women's cultural pursuits on the ward…" This shows that under professional settings, males and females may act different than in their social and domestic settings. The idea of "paternal responsibility for the household" contradicts the view that females alone pay attention to social issues within the work place, and further allows the conclusion that some men may "hone in on psycho-social issues." These ideas may give ammunition to fight previously mentioned stereotypes, but like the idea of cybernetic models in Martin's essay, it merely puts in place another culturally infused method for "the imposition of social control" (Martin 102). This new perspective, while not a scientific truth, shows that nursing should not be limited to women, and the limitations placed on the profession by cultural norms in fact damage the ability to progress and concentrate efforts. "Paternal responsibility" of males, "cultural pursuits" of females, and the ability of males to "hone in on the psycho-social issues" include three ideas rarely discussed on the topic of nursing, but they are credible views from the perspective of male nurses and should thus open the eyes of those stuck in traditional views of nursing. Willis further points out that the addition of technology need not take away from caring but can help it by giving the nurses more time and ability to concentrate on "psycho-social" aspects while still giving the best treatments available.
If nurses and doctors are not separately defined by their gender histories, as Smoyak asserts, what differentiates them? What can unify the two effectively towards successful collaboration? To answer these questions, an exploration of the differences between doctors and nurses must transcend gender stereotypes and find deeper, more meaningful divergences. In Vivien Woodward's "Professional caring: a contradiction in terms?" the changing conception of the roles of nurses and midwives from caregiver to technician are shown to play a large role in the kind of care patients receive. Woodward's apprehension about this transformation displays a marked difference between doctors and nurses. Doctors are already the technicians of the body, and are increasingly narrowing and specializing their work. In her essay, Woodward argues that, now, nurses no longer provide the same emotionally based care to patients and this affects the quality of care.
Radical changes within health care provision and the growing potential of nursing and midwifery practice (Department of Health 1994) have coincided with the reduction in religious values which previously guided caring (Bradshaw 1994) Bradshaw (1996) asserts that this move from covenant to contractual obligation has produced a practitioner rather than patient-centered ideology. (Woodward)
These "radical changes" referring to technological advances have reduced the religious values associated with caring and replaced them with potential of advancement of high tech. These "religious values" are unique to nursing and do not exist in the doctors' profession. The "contractual obligation" is cold sounding, hinting at the business aspect, in comparison to the covenant, a mutual pact with religious connotations. People often fear that doctors work in order to earn money rather than care for patients, but it is generally agreed that nurses do not choose that profession for the money. These traditional views, Smoyak says, constituted the ideological differences between nursing and doctoring, but the roles of nurses are changing according to Woodward. The actions of the "practitioner", a word contrasting with caregiver, emphasizes the technical paradigm rather than the patient's actions, allowing the patient to become a replaceable, interchangeable entity. Woodward shows these "radical changes… from covenant to contractual obligation" to be unfounded, and the trend towards "instrumental care" away from "expressive care" seems to take away from the important caring relationship, but that these changes occur shows that nursing cannot be limited to non-technical activities because evidently nurses can and do use technology to help them in patient care.
Instrumental activities alone may objectify the individual (Bradshaw 1996) Compared with this, expressive caring makes a qualitative difference to the way in which activities are undertaken. It includes an emotional element, which reflects a commitment to values such as respect for the unique identity and specific needs of the individual (Morrison 1992) [45]. Griffin (1980) [29] asserts that it is the moral emotion of respecting the dignity and autonomy of another human being which motivates and transforms nursing action into caring. (Woodward)