Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Health:
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gardner, G.
Right arrow Articles by Cook, R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Gardner, G.
Right arrow Articles by Cook, R.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Telling Accounts of Wound Infections: Avoidance, Anomaly and Ambiguity

Glenn Gardner

Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and Queensland University of Technology, Australia ge.gardner{at}qut.edu.au

Robert Cook

The Canberra Hospital and University of Canberra, Australia

Drawing from an interpretive study this article reports on an investigation into the way that patients receive information about having a surgical wound infection. The study findings indicated that patients often struggle to gain this information and health professionals use a range of strategies to avoid rather than engage the patient in discussions about their infection. A sociological analysis of this avoidance draws upon the literature pertaining to issues of power/knowledge, shame and reluctance to engage in potentially distressing interactions. The findings also indicate that considerations of the success of surgery can relate more to the technical aspects of the operation rather than the patient health outcomes. This study demonstrates the clinical relevance of interpretive research and shows how this approach can produce knowledge to inform health service and patient care practices.

Key Words: health care associated infection • multi-resistant infection • power/knowledge • shame • surgical site infection

Health:, Vol. 8, No. 2, 183-197 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/1363459304041069
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?