This paper examines the use of a qualitative research methodology, ethnomethodological ethnography that has had little application within nursing, whether in the United Kingdom or elsewhere. This methodology is concerned with describing how members of a social group perceive, define and classify the ways that they perform their daily activities and what meanings they assign to these activities. Ethnomethodological ethnography analyses the everyday methods people use to construct and sustain the typical activities in their cultural world, that is, their ‘sense assembly equipment’. This enables them to act in ways that are congruent with their culturally learnt attitudes. Although this paper focuses on describing ethnomethodological ethnography, examples of its use in a study of nursing practice are provided from a doctoral study that explored the everyday methods military nurses used to rationalise their post-operative pain assessment decisions. From the experiences of this study, it is argued that ethnomethodological ethnography is a valuable methodology for investigating how nurses rationalise their decisions within nursing practice.
Baker HM (1997) Rules outside the rules of administration of medication: a study in New South Wales, Australia.Image J Nurs Sch29: 155–158.
2.
P BennerCA TannerCA Chesla (eds) (1996) Expertise in Nursing Practice: Caring, Clinical Judgements and Ethics.New York: Springer Publishing Company, Inc.
3.
Benson DHughes JA (1983) The Perspective of Ethnomethodology.London: Longman.
4.
Bond JBond S (1994) Sociology and Health Care: An Introduction for Nurses and other Health Care Professionals, second ed.Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.
5.
Bowling A (2002) Research Methods in Health: Investigating Health and Health Services.Second edition. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
6.
Cason CLJones TBrock JMaese PMilligan C (1999) Nurses’ knowledge of pain management: implications for staff education.J Nurses Staff Dev15: 228–235.
7.
Chrisman NJJohnson TM (1990) Clinically applied anthropology. In: TM JohnsonCF Sargent (eds), Medical Anthropology: Contemporary Theory and Method.Westport: Præger Publishers.
8.
Cohen LManion L (2007) Research Methods in Education, sixth ed.London: Routledge.
9.
Coulon A (1995) Ethnomethodology.Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc.
10.
Davitz LLDavitz JR (1975) How nurses view patient suffering.Regist Nurse38: 69–74.
11.
Dingwall R (1981) The ethnomethodological movement. In: G PayneR DingwallJ PayneM Carter (eds), Sociology and Social Research.London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
12.
Ferrell BRMcCaffery M (1998) Nurses’ Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain.California: City of Hope National Medical Center.
13.
Fontana AFrey J.H (1994) Interviewing: the art of science. In: NK DenzinYS Lincoln (eds), Handbook of Qualitative Research.Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.
14.
Frost G (1998) How to destroy an army: introduction and summary. In: G Frost (ed), Not Fit To Fight: The Cultural Subversion of the Armed Forces in Britain and America.London: The Social Affairs Unit.
15.
Garfinkel H; (1967) Studies in Ethnomethodology, Englewood Cliffs (NJ): Prentice-Hall.
16.
Garfinkel H (1984) Studies in Ethnomethodology, second ed.Cambridge: Polity Press.
17.
Goodman BStrange F (1997) Ethnomethodology. In: P SmithJM Hunt (eds), Research Mindedness for Practice: An Interactive Approach for Nursing and Health Care.New York: Churchill Livingstone.
18.
Grbich C (1999) Qualitative Research in Health: An Introduction.London: SAGE Publications.
19.
Hakim C (2000) Research Design: Successful Designs for Social and Economic Research.London: Routledge.
20.
Handel W (1982) Ethnomethodology: How People Make Sense.Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
21.
Harper P; (2005) A Study of the Influence of Military Culture on Military Nurses When Assessing Post-operative Pain. Unpublished PhD Thesis: University of Southampton, United Kingdom.
22.
Harper P (2006) Different skills, different attitudes, same duty of care.Br J Nurs15: 537.
23.
Haston R (1999) A high-flying career.Nurs Stand14: 61.
24.
Heath DK (1998) Nurses’ knowledge and attitudes concerning pain management in an Australian hospital.Aust J Adv Nurs16: 15–18.
25.
Helman CG (2007) Culture, Health and Illness, fifth ed.London: Hodder, Arnold.
26.
Heritage J (1984) Garfinkel and Ethnomethodology.Cambridge: Polity Press.
27.
Holloway IWheeler S (2002) Qualitative Research in Nursing, second ed.Oxford: Blackwell Science Ltd.
28.
Holstein JAGubrium JF (1994) Phenomenology, ethnomethodology and interpretive practice. In: NK DenzinYS Lincoln (eds), Handbook of Qualitative Research.Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.
29.
Holstein JAGubrium JF (1997) Active interviewing. In: D Silverman (ed), Qualitative Research: Theory, Method and Practice.London: SAGE Publications.
30.
Kelly PMay D (1994) Good and bad patients: a review of the literature and a theoretical critique.J Adv Nurs7: 147–166.
31.
Kvale S (2005) Interviews: An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing, second ed.Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.
32.
Malinowski B (1922) Argonauts of the Western Pacific.London: Routledge.
33.
Mason J (2002) Qualitative Researching, second ed.London: SAGE Publications.
34.
Mason T (1997) An ethnomethodological analysis of the use of seclusion.J Adv Nurs26: 780–789.
35.
McCaffery M (1968) Nursing practice theories related to cognition, bodily pain, and man-environment interactions. Los Angeles: University of California at Los Angeles Students’ Store.
36.
McCaffery MPasero C (2001) Using the 0–10 Pain Rating Scale: nine common problems solved.Am J Nurs101: 81–82.
Miller G (1997) Building bridges: the possibility of analytic dialogue between ethnography, conversation analysis and foucault. In: D Silverman (ed), Qualitative Research: Theory, Method and Practice.London: SAGE Publications.
39.
Mileham P (1995) Worth fighting for: a critique of the bett review.Br Army Rev110: 46–55.
40.
Morris DB (1991) The Culture of Pain.Berkeley: University of California Press.
41.
Parahoo K (2006) Nursing Research: Principles, Process and Issues, second ed.Basingstoke: Macmillan.
42.
Pierson CA (1999) Ethnomethodologic analysis of accounts of feeding demented residents in long-term care.Image J Nurs Sch31: 127–131.
43.
Schwandt TA (2001) Dictionary of qualitative inquiry.London: Sage.
44.
Sharrock WAnderson B (1986) The Ethnomethodologists.Chichester: Ellis Harwood Ltd.
45.
Silverman D (1985) Qualitative Methodology and Sociology: Describing the Social World.Aldershot: Gower.
46.
Silverman D (2005) Doing Qualitative Research: A Practical Handbook, second ed.London: SAGE Publications.
47.
Sjöström BDahlgrem LOHaljamaäe H (2000) Strategies used in pain assessment and their clinical accuracy.J Clin Nurs9: 111–118.
48.
Spradley JP (1979) The Ethnographic Interview.Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
49.
Stake RE (2000) Case studies. In: NK DenzinYS Lincoln (eds), Handbook of Qualitative Research, second ed.Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications Inc.
50.
Starns P (1998) Fighting militarism? British nursing during the second world war. In: R CooterM HarrisonS Sturdy (eds), War, Medicine and Modernity. Stroud: Sutton Publishing.
51.
Surgeon General (2000) Centre for Defence Medicine.London: Ministry of Defence.
52.
Tafas CAPatiraki EMcDonald DDLemonidou C (2002) Testing an instrument measuring greek nurses’ knowledge and attitudes regarding pain.Cancer Nurs25: 8–14.
53.
Ten Have P (2004) Understanding Qualitative Research and Ethnomethodology.London: SAGE Publications.
54.
Walsh MFord P (1989) Nursing Rituals: Research and Rational Actions.Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
55.
Wild D (2003) Going to war: a literature review.Emerg Nurse10: 18–22.
56.
Wills RA (1997) Cultures in collision: an investigation into the impact on ethos and culture experienced by the army medical services following integration into civilian secondary care organisations.Br Army Rev115: 40–52.
57.
Wurzbach ME (1999) The moral metaphors of nursing.J Adv Nurs30: 94–99.
