Where Have All the Heroes Gone?

Navuluri, Neelima; Solomon, Harris; Hargett, C William; Kussin, Peter S.

doi:10.1080/01459740.2021.1897809

Cited by 5 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 14 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Finally, our work makes a connection to Navuluri et al 's (2021) ethnographic study of a group of 52 iCu workers in the United States as they tried to make sense of the 'idealised and actual resilience practices' of their everyday working experiences during the pandemic -viewed within a broader social discourse that positioned them as 'heroes' (Navuluri et al 2021, 209). The authors found multiple tensions within the heroism discourse, which builds on notions of superhuman prowess, militarism, and moral fibre, and which (when workers were asked to consider how it applied to their own situations) was thoughtfully parsed out by the participants' answers into elements of 'action, virtue, and regard' (Navuluri et al 2021, 210).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They noted with concern, the obfuscation that being declared a hero created over unreasonable conditions of employment in which the active policing of public health measures became the responsibility of workers who had not had the luxury to prepare themselves or obtain suitable training. Thus, their exertions in their daily job underline the strained quality of public health provision, and as much as Navuluri et al 's (2021) health care workers strained to 'to be seen as workers, ' so too were these Aotearoa New Zealand supermarket workers straining to be recognised as 'health care workers' requiring training, support, and recognition that each person has a human limit for how long and how innovatively they should be required to work in any circumstance. The pressure of such continued overwork and responsibilisation requires disentanglement from notions of heroism and resilience.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

‘WE'RE ALL WATCHING EACH OTHER’: Dunedin Supermarket Workers and the 2020 Pandemic Lockdown

Buhler

Wardell²,

Fitzgerald³

2022

Sites: a journal of social anthropology and cultural studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Restrictions implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Aotearoa New Zealand changed the space and sociality of supermarkets significantly. Personal management strategies such as handwashing, social distancing, and the use of facemasks transformed the lived experience of supermarket workers, making them a part of the emergency infrastructure of Aotearoa New Zealand’s public health response. This small qualitative study uses interviews and observation to explore the changing experience of work and self for five Dunedin supermarket workers as they performed their jobs, engaged in public health measures, and experienced the vulnerability of being understood as infection vectors within their homes and objects of heightened risk within their workspace. We use this data to discuss the social meanings of personal management strategies as efface work, the experience of solidarity within a community of fate, and as an alternative window on the ‘conquest’ of COVID-19, including the development of ‘techne’ of professional caregiving under duress and without public health training.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘WE'RE ALL WATCHING EACH OTHER’: Dunedin Supermarket Workers and the 2020 Pandemic Lockdown

Buhler

Wardell²,

Fitzgerald³

2022

Sites: a journal of social anthropology and cultural studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…How do you respond to that? You kind of get beat up at work, and then you go home and go to the store, just to take care of your kids, and someone's beating you up there.” This was particularly challenging for the nurse, whom it struck as a biting reality check in the face of the health care worker‐heroism discourse circulating at the time 21 …”

Section: Chronic Distressed Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distressed Work: Chronic Imperatives and Distress in Covid‐19 Critical Care

Navuluri¹,

Solomon²,

Hargett³

et al. 2023

Hastings Center Report

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This ethnographic study introduces the term “distressed work” to describe the emergence of chronic frictions between moral imperatives for health care workers to keep working and the dramatic increase in distress during the Covid‐19 pandemic. Interviews and observant participation conducted in a hospital intensive care unit during the Covid‐19 pandemic reveal how health care workers connected job duties with extraordinary emotional, physical, and moral burdens. We explore tensions between perceived obligations of health care professionals and the structural contexts of work. Key findings cluster around the moral imperatives of health care work and the distress that work engendered as work spaces, senses of vocation, patient and family interactions, and end‐of‐life care shifted. While the danger of working beyond limits has long been an ordinary feature of health care work, it has now become a chronic crisis. Assessing this problem in terms of distressed work and its structural contexts can better address effective, worker‐informed responses to current health care labor dilemmas.

show abstract

“… 22 Studies show that not only does heroism discourse fail to resonate with the people it describes, it also mischaracterises as a superpower the labour they perform, erasing unequal conditions of employment risk and diminishing the ability of individuals to express their need for support. 22 – 24 …”

Section: A Sociological Perspective: Dr Catherine Montgomerymentioning

confidence: 99%

Self care and wellbeing in the face of COVID-19: Multidisciplinary perspectives and interprofessional experiences

Wheater

Montgomery

Clark

et al. 2023

Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The human toll which has resulted from the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic is clearly recognised. No single event in recent times has had such profound effects on health services and their staff wellbeing around the world. Policy making has been led by the requirement for confinement and surveillance to limit spread of the disease, and in clinical settings the impact of the necessity for the use of personal protective measures has caused huge strains on practice clinically and professionally. In this paper we share experiences from the pandemic, explore the social and organisational factors at stake and make some suggestions for both personal wellbeing practice and a systems response to the ongoing staff wellbeing challenges of the pandemic.

show abstract

Where Have All the Heroes Gone?

Cited by 5 publications

References 14 publications

‘WE'RE ALL WATCHING EACH OTHER’: Dunedin Supermarket Workers and the 2020 Pandemic Lockdown

‘WE'RE ALL WATCHING EACH OTHER’: Dunedin Supermarket Workers and the 2020 Pandemic Lockdown

Distressed Work: Chronic Imperatives and Distress in Covid‐19 Critical Care

Self care and wellbeing in the face of COVID-19: Multidisciplinary perspectives and interprofessional experiences

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About