"At Work in the Field of Birth" is an ethnographic study of midwifery in Canada in the wake of its historic transition from the margins as a grassroots social movement devoted to low-tech, woman-centered care to a regulated profession within the public health care system. In January 1994, after decades of lobbying by midwives and their supporters, the province of Ontario recognized midwifery as a profession for the first time in more than a century.

Through stories about becoming and being a midwife and stories about receiving midwifery care, this book describes how fundamental tenets of midwifery philosophy and practice--the meaning of tradition, natural birth, and home birth, and the place of medical technology in midwifery--are being reworked by the practical and ideological challenges of midwifery's new place within the formal health care system. MacDonald presents contemporary midwifery as a complex cultural system in which "nature" and "tradition" emerge as dynamic rather than esssentialized social categories of meaning and experience.

STORY EXCERPT:
Martina, another rural midwife, tells me "My great-grandmother was a midwife . . . so I sort of have this idea that there is still a bit of that in my blood. But at the same time-I mean, we don't just get called during labour-it's much more clinical. We are doing blood work that my grandmother wouldn't have done and more lab work and tests. But I want to hold on to some of that. I don't want to become a techno midwife. It's not what I want to do at all. It doesn't mean tat we don't use technology or are not willing to-we certainly do, all the time. But I think that one thing that attracts women to midwives and certainlyattracts women to become midwives is the sense of the neighbour, the friend, having a cup of tea. It is more friendly, you've got time to spend with women."

How do we know we are ill? Are health, illness and disability universal categories? How important is the body in our understanding of health? These crucial questions are just some of the issues tackled in this comprehensive and insightful new book. Embodying Health Identities offers a fundamental account of the sociology of health, exploring the relationship between health and identity through a focus on embodiment. Bringing together existing literature with new cutting edge theories, the authors investigate the implications of the body on our experiences of health and illness and its role in how health, illness and identity relate to each other. The text begins by outlining the key concepts of health and illness, and then continues with an exploration of the social factors which impact on health and a consideration of the journey of illness, from causation to treatment, across the life course. Throughout the text, theoretical arguments are effectively illustrated with contemporary examples taken from every day life and a diverse range of cultures. Written by two reputed authors in the field, this accessible text offers stimulating and refreshing reading for all students of the sociology and anthropology of health.

"Nursing, everyone believes, is the caring profession. Texts on caring line the walls of nursing schools and student shelves. Indeed, the discipline of nursing is often known as the 'caring science.' Because of their caring reputation, nurses top the polls as the most-trustworthy professionals. Yet, in spite of what seems to be an endless outpouring of public support, in almost every country in the world nursing is under threat, in the practice setting and in the academic sector. Indeed, its standing as a regulated profession is constantly challenged. In our view, this paradox is neither accidental nor natural but, in great part, the logical consequence of the fact that nurses and their organizations place such a heavy emphasis on nursing's and nurses' virtues rather than on their knowledge and concrete contributions." from the Introduction

In a series of provocative essays, The Complexities of Care rejects the assumption that nursing work is primarily emotional and relational. The contributors-international experts on nursing- all argue that caring discourse in nursing is a dangerous oversimplification that has in fact created many dilemmas within the profession and in the health care system. This book offers a long-overdue exploration of care at a pivotal moment in the history of health care. The ideas presented here will foster a critical debate that will assist nurses to better understand the nature and meaning of the nurse-patient relationship, confront challenges to their work and their profession, and deliver the services patients need now and into the future.

Contributors: Sanchia Aranda, University of Melbourne and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre; Rosie Brown, University of Melbourne; Sean Clarke, University of Pennsylvania and University of Montreal; Suzanne Gordon; Marie Heartfield, University of South Australia; Tom Keighley, Royal College of Nursing; Diana J. Mason, American Journal of Nursing; Lydia L. Moland, Babson College; Sioban Nelson, University of Toronto; Dana Beth Weinberg, Queens College, CUNY"

This introductory text encourages the application of sociological insights in health care. Health processes and outcomes are analyzed in terms of social difference, inequality, opportunities and life chances. Key sociological concepts and theories are introduced by using practical exercises and an active learning approach. The book is written in an accessible style so that it can be used as a course text but should also appeal to individual readers at all levels in their career. The book is for those on degree and diploma courses in nursing and midwifery, health studies, health promotion and sports sciences; and healthcare practitioners including midwives, health visitors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and health promotion officers.

Provides students with insights into key contemporary debates and events to demonstrate the relevance of sociology and its practical application to modern nursing. This textbook helps student nurses make the leap from a narrow focus on the physical problems of their patients to a broader understanding of the whole person and the contexts of care which will help them succeed as compassionate nurses. Written directly for nurses, it focuses on the individuals and families in their care, the organisations they work in, and the factors which affect their practice. Key features include: Case studies and scenarios to help students relate sociology to real-life examples Reflection points to help students critically engage with the discussion Learning outcomes and chapter summaries for revision Definitions of key terms in each chapter

The reassuring bromides of "chicken soup for the soul" provide little solace for nurses and the people they serve in real-life hospitals, nursing homes, schools of nursing, and other settings. In the minefield of modern health care, there are myriad obstacles to quality patient care including work overload, inadequate funds for nursing education and research, and poor communication between and within the professions, to name only a few. The seventy RNs whose stories are collected here by the award-winning journalist Suzanne Gordon know that effective advocacy isn't easy. It takes nurses willing to stand up for themselves, their coworkers, their patients, and the public.

When Chicken Soup Isn't Enough brings together compelling personal narratives from a wide range of nurses from across the globe. The assembled profiles in professional courage provide new insight into the daily challenges that RNs face in North America and abroad and how they overcome them with skill, ingenuity, persistence, and individual and collective advocacy at work and in the community. In this collection, we meet RNs working at the bedside, providing home care, managing hospital departments, teaching and doing research, lobbying for quality patient care, and campaigning for health care reform.

Their stories are funny, sad, deeply moving, inspiring, and always revealing of the different ways that nurses make their voices heard in the service of their profession. The risks and rewards, joys and sorrows, of nursing have rarely been captured in such vivid first-person accounts. Gordon and the authors of the essays contained in this book have much to say about the strengths and shortcomings of health care today and the role that nurses play as irreplaceable agents of change."

This positive book brings together current good practice in education and training for care professionals around a central theme of involving service users and improving the quality of their care. The contributors set out a strategy for the teaching of theory and practice to care professionals in the context of changing policy and practice in agencies and in higher education. Helpful guidance is offered to education and training providers in universities and agencies on the preparation of care professionals for the new millenium and beyond. Topics addressed within the book include: * international comparisons * research teaching * the bridging of vocational, professional and academic frameworks * user involvement * assessing professional competence * teaching anti-discriminatory practice. While drawing primarily from social work, this book takes an interprofessional approach and will be essential reading for all health and care education providers. Rachel Pierce and Jenny Weinstein have brought together academics, researchers and practitioners, to reflect with them - both positively and critically - on a broad range of contemporary educational developments, thus providing a sound analysis to shape future arrangements for quality professional education and training.

This phenomenological study describes the lived experience of pain inflicted in the context of medically prescribed treatment, and it explores the meanings of such pain for patients who endured it and for nurses whose actions contributed to its generation. Thus, it presents a thematic description of the phenomenon of clinically inflicted pain. The dangers for both patients and nurses when clinically inflicted pain is ignored, overlooked, or treated with detachment are presented. The study also points the way toward nursing practice that is guided by thoughtfulness and sensitivity to patients1 lived experience and an awareness of the freedom and responsibility inherent in nursing actions, including those involved in inflicting and relieving pain. Questions are raised about nurses1 knowledge, attitudes, and actions in relation to clinically inflicted pain. The study highlights the need for nursing education and practice to consider the contribution of a phenomenological perspective to the understanding of the human experience of pain and the nursing role in its generation, prevention, and relief.

This comprehensive and much-needed resource is for professionals and students in social care, who are required to engage with the spiritual dimension of their therapeutic work with clients. The authors, who include social workers, mental health professionals, religious professionals and academics, show how they have developed ways of applying their own and their clients' spirituality in their practice. They describe their work in an international range of human service contexts including: * working with grief and loss * community development work * working across cultures * social justice work * social work teaching and learning. The client groups they cover include children, older people, individuals with learning disabilities, and ethnic minority and indigenous groups. Drawing on theological and philosophical ideas from different cultures, this much-needed resource gives guidance on and examples of practice that together enable the reader to explore and develop the role of spiritual awareness in their work. It is an essential resource for all those training or practising in social work, mental health, pastoral care and counselling.