Davina Allen – författare

This book examines the division of labour between nurses and other health professions and occupations. It connects classic sociological concerns with practical problems affecting the contemporary NHS, such as: skill-mix in hospitals; the emergence of new roles; the shifting boundaries between medicine and nursing; and the barriers to change that exist. The book contains a series of case studies illustrating tensions, conflict and accommodation observable when occupations, or sub-groups within occupations, negotiate new working relationships.

Bringing together sociological theories and nursing practice this text develops a dynamic conceptualisation of the nursing role which is rooted in the work setting. It looks at the factors which have shaped nursing work in the past and those which are likely to shape it in the future.Nurses' work is changing in two respects: the place nursing occupies in the health care division of labour and the routine shifting of work boundaries that nurses experience in their daily work. Drawing on her detailed observations of the reality of nursing work in a district general hospital, Davina Allen explores these linked themes, focussing on five key work boundaries:*nurse:doctor *nurse:manager*nurse:support worker*nurse:patient*nurse:nurseThe text provides new insight into many of the tensions and dilemmas nurses routinely face and the processes and constraints through which their work is fashioned. It offers a new way of thinking about the nursing role which is particularly relevant at a time when the scope of nursing practice is expanding and when the integrated approach to health and social care is seen as the key to provision and improved services.

Bringing together sociological theories and nursing practice this text develops a dynamic conceptualisation of the nursing role which is rooted in the work setting. It looks at the factors which have shaped nursing work in the past and those which are likely to shape it in the future.Nurses' work is changing in two respects: the place nursing occupies in the health care division of labour and the routine shifting of work boundaries that nurses experience in their daily work. Drawing on her detailed observations of the reality of nursing work in a district general hospital, Davina Allen explores these linked themes, focussing on five key work boundaries:*nurse:doctor *nurse:manager*nurse:support worker*nurse:patient*nurse:nurseThe text provides new insight into many of the tensions and dilemmas nurses routinely face and the processes and constraints through which their work is fashioned. It offers a new way of thinking about the nursing role which is particularly relevant at a time when the scope of nursing practice is expanding and when the integrated approach to health and social care is seen as the key to provision and improved services.

Focusing on the nurse researcher's dual role as practitioner and researcher, as well as research ethics and the relationship between practitioner and academic agendas, The Reality of Nursing Research helps to:locate the practical dilemmas of nursing research in historical and policy contextprepare those about to embark on research for some of the issues they will facereassure researchers that they are not the only ones to encounter the complexity of real life research support the research teacher or supervisor in preparing and mentoring their studentsshare experiences of others who have encountered similar issues and provide some practical advice on their solution.With illustrative case studies and practical advice, this book looks at the real life dilemmas faced by nurse researchers at key stages of the research process from developing a research question through to disseminating the findings. It is an essential text for nurse researchers, teachers of research, research supervisors and nurses undertaking research at diploma through to doctoral level.

Focusing on the nurse researcher's dual role as practitioner and researcher, as well as research ethics and the relationship between practitioner and academic agendas, The Reality of Nursing Research helps to:locate the practical dilemmas of nursing research in historical and policy contextprepare those about to embark on research for some of the issues they will facereassure researchers that they are not the only ones to encounter the complexity of real life research support the research teacher or supervisor in preparing and mentoring their studentsshare experiences of others who have encountered similar issues and provide some practical advice on their solution.With illustrative case studies and practical advice, this book looks at the real life dilemmas faced by nurse researchers at key stages of the research process from developing a research question through to disseminating the findings. It is an essential text for nurse researchers, teachers of research, research supervisors and nurses undertaking research at diploma through to doctoral level.

Nursing is typically understood, and understands itself, as a care-giving occupation. It is through its relationships with patients – whether these are absent, present, good, bad or indifferent – that modern day nursing is defined. Yet nursing work extends far beyond direct patient care activities. Across the spectrum of locales in which they are employed, nurses, in numerous ways, support and sustain the delivery and organisation of health services. In recent history, however, this wider work has generally been regarded as at best an adjunct to the core nursing function, and at worse responsible for taking nurses away from their ‘real work’ with patients. Beyond its identity as the ‘other’ to care-giving, little is known about this element of nursing practice. Drawing on extensive observational research of the everyday work in a UK hospital, and insights from practice-based approaches and actor network theory, the aim of this book is to lay the empirical and theoretical foundations for a reappraisal of the nursing contribution to society by shining a light on this invisible aspect of nurses’ work. Nurses, it is argued, can be understood as focal actors in health systems and through myriad processes of ‘translational mobilisation’ sustain the networks through which care is organised. Not only is this work an essential driver of action, it also operates as a powerful countervailing force to the centrifugal tendencies inherent in healthcare organisations which, for all their gloss of order and rationality, are in reality very loose arrangements.The Invisible Work of Nurses will be interest to academics and students across a number of fields, including nursing, medical sociology, organisational studies, health management, science and technology studies, and improvement science.

Care trajectory management refers to the work that nurses do to coordinate and organise patient care. It’s a relatively unseen element of the nursing role that is absolutely vital for patient safety and quality care.Care Trajectory Management: Foundations in the Organising Work of Nurses is the first ever textbook of its kind for nurse educators, practice facilitators and policy makers as well as undergraduate nurses. It is both a theoretical and practical resource covering the concepts and theories around the organisational components of nursing practice, derived the research of nurse academic Davina Allen.This excellent book will help prepare nurses to be the ‘glue’ in increasingly complex healthcare systems, and provides an excellent foundation for embedding this important subject into student curricula.

How is care coordinated when the course is uncertain, the work distributed, and the patient constantly redefined? In this detailed ethnographic study of the hip fracture trajectory, Beyond Patient Pathways challenges the dominant rational-linear logic of care pathways to reveal the complex, evolving assemblages that underpin everyday service delivery.The book traces how coordination is accomplished within and across diverse settings - from the control centre and ambulance services, through the emergency department, hospital ward, and operating theatres, to community-based care. The first ever study to examine the organisation of end-to-end processes in real time, it offers unique insights into the changing shape of patient trajectories. Anchored in classic sociological ideas on patient trajectories and informed by Translation Mobilisation Theory, Beyond Patient Pathways reframes patient-centred care not as a fixed ideal, but as something enacted through shifting concerns, technologies, and institutional arrangements. It brings to light the diversity of ways in which care is organised, including the often-invisible work that sustains coordination across time and settings. In doing so, it offers not only a powerful conceptual lens but also a methodological foundation for studying care trajectories in ways that are sensitive to the relational intricacies and dynamic configurations of care work.The complexity of care systems is increasingly acknowledged, but they are difficult to study systematically. This book provides both the empirical grounding and the theoretical tools needed to do so - making it an essential resource for a wide readership of researchers, medical sociologists, service managers, improvement scientists, and healthcare professionals with an interest in health services management, quality improvement, person-centred care, care planning and interprofessional education.

How is care coordinated when the course is uncertain, the work distributed, and the patient constantly redefined? In this detailed ethnographic study of the hip fracture trajectory, Beyond Patient Pathways challenges the dominant rational-linear logic of care pathways to reveal the complex, evolving assemblages that underpin everyday service delivery.The book traces how coordination is accomplished within and across diverse settings - from the control centre and ambulance services, through the emergency department, hospital ward, and operating theatres, to community-based care. The first ever study to examine the organisation of end-to-end processes in real time, it offers unique insights into the changing shape of patient trajectories. Anchored in classic sociological ideas on patient trajectories and informed by Translation Mobilisation Theory, Beyond Patient Pathways reframes patient-centred care not as a fixed ideal, but as something enacted through shifting concerns, technologies, and institutional arrangements. It brings to light the diversity of ways in which care is organised, including the often-invisible work that sustains coordination across time and settings. In doing so, it offers not only a powerful conceptual lens but also a methodological foundation for studying care trajectories in ways that are sensitive to the relational intricacies and dynamic configurations of care work.The complexity of care systems is increasingly acknowledged, but they are difficult to study systematically. This book provides both the empirical grounding and the theoretical tools needed to do so - making it an essential resource for a wide readership of researchers, medical sociologists, service managers, improvement scientists, and healthcare professionals with an interest in health services management, quality improvement, person-centred care, care planning and interprofessional education.

The Sociology of Healthcare Safety and Quality presents a series of research-informed readings on the sociological contributions of technologies, practices, experiences, and organizational quality and safety across a range of healthcare contexts. Represents the first collection of peer-reviewed research articles showcasing ways that sociology can contribute to the ongoing policy concern of healthcare safety and qualityFeatures original contributions from leading experts in healthcare related fields from three continentsReveals the state-of-the art in sociological analyses of contemporary healthcare safety and quality along with future directions in the fieldOffers sociological insights from the perspectives of managers, clinicians, and patients

Nursing is typically understood, and understands itself, as a care-giving occupation. It is through its relationships with patients – whether these are absent, present, good, bad or indifferent – that modern day nursing is defined. Yet nursing work extends far beyond direct patient care activities. Across the spectrum of locales in which they are employed, nurses, in numerous ways, support and sustain the delivery and organisation of health services. In recent history, however, this wider work has generally been regarded as at best an adjunct to the core nursing function, and at worse responsible for taking nurses away from their ‘real work’ with patients. Beyond its identity as the ‘other’ to care-giving, little is known about this element of nursing practice. Drawing on extensive observational research of the everyday work in a UK hospital, and insights from practice-based approaches and actor network theory, the aim of this book is to lay the empirical and theoretical foundations for a reappraisal of the nursing contribution to society by shining a light on this invisible aspect of nurses’ work. Nurses, it is argued, can be understood as focal actors in health systems and through myriad processes of ‘translational mobilisation’ sustain the networks through which care is organised. Not only is this work an essential driver of action, it also operates as a powerful countervailing force to the centrifugal tendencies inherent in healthcare organisations which, for all their gloss of order and rationality, are in reality very loose arrangements.The Invisible Work of Nurses will be interest to academics and students across a number of fields, including nursing, medical sociology, organisational studies, health management, science and technology studies, and improvement science.