‘I’m a person, you’re a person. We’re not plastic, we’re human beings’ : An ethnographic study of dignity in community nursing

Stevens, Emma Louise

Abstract

This study explores dignity and human rights through the experiences of older patients and staff in a community nursing context. Previous empirical considerations of dignity in healthcare focus primarily on hospital-based care, and only a paucity of literature explores dignity and human rights in community healthcare settings. This study assumes a sociological approach, applying a human rights lens to the subject matter which offers an original contribution, as, to date, much of the work in this context has been written from a health or bioethical perspective.
The ethnography on which the thesis reports was conducted over a period of fourteen weeks in which I was located within an urban district nursing team in the north of England. Two methods of data collection were used – observations and interviews. Observations of clinical interactions (n=62) were undertaken between older adult patients aged over 60 (n=40) and members of the nursing team (n=13). Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with staff (n=11) and patients (n=11), which covered some standardised questions about dignity and human rights, plus individualised questions from the observations.
Thematic analysis resulted in three overarching themes: dignity in caring relationships; dignity in caring for the body; and dignity in the home. Dignity does not exist absolutely, but findings indicate dignity is socially (de)constructed through social interactions. Within the caring relationship, nurses and patients can create a ‘dignity encounter’, and if care within the home is managed successfully, an ‘environment of dignity’ ensues.
The study concludes that although dignity is desirable, it is highly complex and has multiple meanings, yet still remains core to community nursing practice. Through investigating routine and ‘mundane’ aspects of community nursing, this study demonstrates how micro-articulations in caring relationships have macro-applications in terms of dignity.

Citation

Stevens, E. L. (2019). ‘I’m a person, you’re a person. We’re not plastic, we’re human beings’ : An ethnographic study of dignity in community nursing. (Thesis). University of Hull. https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4912838

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Nov 12, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: May 2, 2025
• Keywords: Sociology; Social anthropology
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4912838
• Additional Information: Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology; University of Hull
• Award Date: Sep 1, 2019