Hospital Nursing in times of societal change. Organizational Dynamics of Re- and Devaluation of Care Work

• Applicant: Dr. Robin Mohan
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 465382380

Starting point of the project is the observation of a highly dynamic change in the field of hospital nursing in Germany which is caused by both a shift in nursing policies as well as the Corona pandemic. A number of recent legislative measures, policy initiatives and campaigns intended to enhance the symbolical and material value of care. In the course of this change, the new legal regulation of hospital care broke with economization tendencies that shaped the field for decades. Nevertheless, nurses continue to articulate in many ways the feeling that their work is being devalued. The current situation of hospital nursing is thus characterized by a complex and tension-filled synchronicity of its re- and devaluation. The project aims to contribute to the understanding of the ramifications of these changes. It explores the role the organizational processing of these changes plays for ward-level nursing staff and their experience of re- and devaluation. Following recent research in sociology of work, these experiences are conceptualized as experiences of fulfillment or violation of work related claims that are deemed legitimate. The research aims to identify and theorize mechanisms in organizational arrangements of hospitals that evoke such experiences. Methodologically, a multi-perspective, qualitative case study design is chosen that combines interview research, observational participation, and document analysis. This approach allows to empirically reconstruct and theoretically generalize the conflictual interplay between management and controlling practices, which concretize the social change within the organization, and the orientation patterns of the nursing staff. Thus, the theory of structural devaluation of nursing as care work will be expanded by an organizational perspective.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants