Foucault could have been an operating room nurse

Abstract

Background. Operating room nursing is an under-researched area of nursing practice. The stereotypical image of operating room nursing is one of task-and technically-orientated aspects of practice, where nurses work in a medical model and are dominated by constraints from outside their sphere of influence. This paper explores the possibility of understanding operating room nursing in a different way. Aim. Using the work of Michel Foucault to analyse the work of operating room nursing, this paper argues the relevance of the framework for a more in-depth analysis of this specialty area of practice. Content. The concepts of power, discipline and subjectivity are used to demonstrate how operating..