Foucault in Application - Managing nurses through disciplinary power: a Foucauldian analysis of
workplace violence
1. Context
This paper looks at instances of workplace violence within the healthcare sector, primarily against nurses
from levels above them in the hierarchy as well as the institutions and patients. It looks at the need to
create and maintain a safe and healthy work environment for healthcare professionals and ensure it is well
documented. This paper also investigates the use of power in terms of control of healthcare workers and
the implications for nursing management by associating common workplace practices with institutional
violence, employers who have a policy of zero tolerance toward workplace violence will need to
re-examine their current ways of operating. Given the shortage of such professionals, there is an urgent
need to take a fresh look at their working environments and working conditions. Key issues identified in
this paper is that violence is identified as an important factor in the recruitment and retention of healthcare
professionals.
2. Goals/Purposes
This paper describes discipline as a specific technique of power which constitutes, in our view, a form of
institutional violence.This paper aims to highlight the need to create and maintain a safe and healthy work
environment for healthcare workers. This paper takes a closer look at the general hospital environment,
including; work practices, job descriptions, staffing patterns, working time, physical environment and
workplace design.
3. Methods
They analyse the working conditions, structure of the organisations and also define institutional violence.
Foucault's perspective on discipline, he outlines surveillance, art of distribution, partitioning, ranking, the
use of time.
- Most of the working conditions are poor and they do not have the power to improve these. -
nurses are powerless to change any issues.
Conducted a survey of 19,000 Canadian nurses.
Hierarchical observation -
Normalising judgement - punishing and judgement
Examination -
4. Critical assessment
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