Making the impossible possible

– a governmentality analysis of the work of one social nurse

Abstract

The social nurse is a function that is relatively new in the Danish healthcare system. The purpose of the social nurse is to reduce social inequality for socially vulnerable patients. It is difficult for socially vulnerable patients to adjust to the offers of treatment in the specialized and standardized healthcare system. The social nurses’ are for this group of patients includes holistic nursing and cross-sectional collaboration. Our aim is, through Governmentality analysis, to investigate how it is possible for the social nurse to perform this kind of practice in the healthcare system. A system characterized by fast track and specialized medical practice. We studied social nurses’ work through participant observations in 10 hospitals and chose to focus on one nurse who seemed to be a success. We discuss the informant’s work life through the concept of control. It contributes to give an impression of the informant’s ability to influence the activities of the work. Governmentality analysis’ show that professional ethics and economic rationales form the informant’s subjectivity. The social nurse is in control because she develops professional capacities and new options for action which makes it possible to work out new alternatives for treatment and reinforce the interdisciplinary collaborators’ competences.