Nursing, Medicine and Primary Care

The juxtaposition of medical and nursing cultures is nowhere more evident than in primary care, the scene of recent and critical changes in policy which ostensibly mark a departure from a competitive market-oriented system of health care to one which promotes partnership and collaboration. Based on recent research, this book provides a broadly sociological analysis of shifting boundaries between and within the professions of medicine and nursing in the context of primary care. The analysis highlights ideas which are current within the contemporary health services - ideas about enterprise as well as meeting need and empowering patients. The ways in which ideas are used to justify role change, and to establish and maintain professional identities are discussed.A cornerstone of the book's argument is an exploration of the scale and nature of uncertainties and vulnerability experienced by nurses and doctors in relation to boundary changes. An analysis of the problems as well as the opportunities which arise as a consequence of working in a climate of uncertainty is a key feature of the book, making it directly relevant to a wide range of health professionals.Nursing, Medicine and Primary Care has also been written with a student audience in mind and will be of interest to undergraduates and postgraduates in areas such as: nursing, medicine, health studies, the sociology of work, public sector management, medical sociology and women's studies.