Dignity in Practice

Day-to-Day Life in Intensive Care Units in Western Europe

Bibliographic Data

ID7918804
AuthorsGitte H Koksvik (0000-0003-1233-4887, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume34
Issue6
Pages517-532
Publication date2015-11-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMedical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0145-9740 • E-ISSN: 1545-5882
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01459740.2015.1037391
PMID26106928
OpenAlexW2121031030
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited18

Dignity is a key concept in contemporary health care ethics, but the practical meaning of dignity in care remains unclear. In this article, I show that in practice, different and possibly conflicting notions of what dignity means are engaged simultaneously in the care of critical patients. The empirical data is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in three separate intensive care units in three European countries, Spain, Norway, and France, in the spring of 2014. Four weeks were spent at each site. Using participant observations and semi-structured interviews with 24 intensive care unit staff, I illustrate how the ideal of patient dignity is carried out in practice in the daily life of these units

Dignity · Ethnography · Health care · Ideal (ethics · Intensive care · Intensive care unit · Meaning (existential · Participant observation · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Healthcare Decision-Making and Restraints · Law · Medicine · Nursing · Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues · Patient Dignity and Privacy · Psychology

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