Happiness in the neonatal intensive care unit: Merits of ethnographic fieldwork
Research has focused on the destructive effects of distress on professionals who work in ethically complex wards such as neonatal intensive units (NICUs). This article examines the accounts of health professionals, including nurses, pediatricians and assistant nurses, of their work at a NICU in Icel...
Published in: | International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being |
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2012
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3402/qhw.v7i0.19699 https://doaj.org/article/58f736ae354a4d46980b552b60227e3f |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:58f736ae354a4d46980b552b60227e3f 2023-05-15T16:51:11+02:00 Happiness in the neonatal intensive care unit: Merits of ethnographic fieldwork Jónína Einarsdóttir 2012-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3402/qhw.v7i0.19699 https://doaj.org/article/58f736ae354a4d46980b552b60227e3f EN eng Taylor & Francis Group http://www.ijqhw.net/index.php/qhw/article/view/19699/25074 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-2623 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-2631 doi:10.3402/qhw.v7i0.19699 1748-2623 1748-2631 https://doaj.org/article/58f736ae354a4d46980b552b60227e3f International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health & Well-Being, Vol 7, Iss 0, Pp 1-9 (2012) ethnography neonatal intensive care happiness stress health professionals Medicine (General) R5-920 article 2012 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3402/qhw.v7i0.19699 2022-12-31T12:06:19Z Research has focused on the destructive effects of distress on professionals who work in ethically complex wards such as neonatal intensive units (NICUs). This article examines the accounts of health professionals, including nurses, pediatricians and assistant nurses, of their work at a NICU in Iceland. The aim is to understand how health professionals, who work under stressful conditions in an ethically sensitive ward, can counteract the negative sides of work too such a degree that they experience happiness. The collection of data was based on the ethnographic fieldwork, and the methods used were participant observation and semi-structured interviews. The professionals evaluated their wellbeing in line with conventional definitions of happiness. Working with children and opportunities to help others, engage in social relations and experience professional pride contributed to their happiness at work. Nonetheless, they did not dismiss the difficult experiences, and when confronted with these the professionals negotiated their meanings and the goals and priorities of work. In contrast to the findings of much quantitative and survey-based research, the professionals attributed constructive meanings to stress and argued that the positive experiences at work buffered the negative ones. Research on happiness would benefit from multifaceted methodological and theoretical perspectives. Thanks to its openness to the unforeseen, controversial, contradictory, and ambiguous aspects of human life, ethnography can contribute to happiness research and research on job satisfaction. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being 7 1 19699 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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language |
English |
topic |
ethnography neonatal intensive care happiness stress health professionals Medicine (General) R5-920 |
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ethnography neonatal intensive care happiness stress health professionals Medicine (General) R5-920 Jónína Einarsdóttir Happiness in the neonatal intensive care unit: Merits of ethnographic fieldwork |
topic_facet |
ethnography neonatal intensive care happiness stress health professionals Medicine (General) R5-920 |
description |
Research has focused on the destructive effects of distress on professionals who work in ethically complex wards such as neonatal intensive units (NICUs). This article examines the accounts of health professionals, including nurses, pediatricians and assistant nurses, of their work at a NICU in Iceland. The aim is to understand how health professionals, who work under stressful conditions in an ethically sensitive ward, can counteract the negative sides of work too such a degree that they experience happiness. The collection of data was based on the ethnographic fieldwork, and the methods used were participant observation and semi-structured interviews. The professionals evaluated their wellbeing in line with conventional definitions of happiness. Working with children and opportunities to help others, engage in social relations and experience professional pride contributed to their happiness at work. Nonetheless, they did not dismiss the difficult experiences, and when confronted with these the professionals negotiated their meanings and the goals and priorities of work. In contrast to the findings of much quantitative and survey-based research, the professionals attributed constructive meanings to stress and argued that the positive experiences at work buffered the negative ones. Research on happiness would benefit from multifaceted methodological and theoretical perspectives. Thanks to its openness to the unforeseen, controversial, contradictory, and ambiguous aspects of human life, ethnography can contribute to happiness research and research on job satisfaction. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jónína Einarsdóttir |
author_facet |
Jónína Einarsdóttir |
author_sort |
Jónína Einarsdóttir |
title |
Happiness in the neonatal intensive care unit: Merits of ethnographic fieldwork |
title_short |
Happiness in the neonatal intensive care unit: Merits of ethnographic fieldwork |
title_full |
Happiness in the neonatal intensive care unit: Merits of ethnographic fieldwork |
title_fullStr |
Happiness in the neonatal intensive care unit: Merits of ethnographic fieldwork |
title_full_unstemmed |
Happiness in the neonatal intensive care unit: Merits of ethnographic fieldwork |
title_sort |
happiness in the neonatal intensive care unit: merits of ethnographic fieldwork |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis Group |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3402/qhw.v7i0.19699 https://doaj.org/article/58f736ae354a4d46980b552b60227e3f |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health & Well-Being, Vol 7, Iss 0, Pp 1-9 (2012) |
op_relation |
http://www.ijqhw.net/index.php/qhw/article/view/19699/25074 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-2623 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-2631 doi:10.3402/qhw.v7i0.19699 1748-2623 1748-2631 https://doaj.org/article/58f736ae354a4d46980b552b60227e3f |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3402/qhw.v7i0.19699 |
container_title |
International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
19699 |
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1766041289714827264 |