Representation, archaeology and genealogy: Three "spatial metaphors" for inquiring into nursing phenomena with Foucauldian discourse analysis.

Foucault used the "Quadrilateral of Language" metaphor to describe how language functioned in what the French called the Classic Age, roughly 1650 to 1800, the period from Descartes to Kant. His purpose was to show how the functions of language changed radically with the arrival of the Modern Age (~1800). Foucault developed his archaeological methods to investigate the impact of this change, but later revised his methods to introduce genealogical strategies to conduct "histories of the present". Our purpose in this paper is to clarify Foucault's thinking about ruptures in the functions of language and to show their implications for analyzing nursing discourse. Our account provides an overview of radical changes in both the functions of language and in Foucault's analytical methods. Drawing on Foucault's "Quadrilateral of Language", his anthropological quadrilateral, and our spatialized conception of his genealogical methods, we critique advanced nursing practice (APN) discourse and invite others to inquire into nursing phenomena with spatialized thinking.

Foucault's legacy for nursing: are we beneficiaries or intestate heirs?

Drawing upon selected literature from the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Canada we examine how Foucault's concepts of 'episteme', 'rupture' 'parrhesia' 'care of the self', and 'problemitization' have been applied to particular contexts of leadership development, pedagogy, nursing knowledge, and the relationship between caring and politics. Our aims are threefold: to give examples of how selected Foucauldian concepts have been taken up in practice; to clarify how we are positioned today as nurses; and to invite more nurses to engage critically with historical inquiry and to engage in deep philosophical reflection about their relationship with nursing. We begin by examining the conditions and circumstances of Foucault's life, and conclude by posing the question in our subtitle to stimulate debate about the philosophical relevance of Foucauldian scholarship to nursing.

Doing Foucault: inquiring into nursing knowledge with Foucauldian discourse analysis.

Foucauldian discourse analysis (FDA) is a methodology that is well suited to inquiring into nursing knowledge and its organization. It is a critical analytic approach derived from Foucault's histories of science, madness, medicine, incarceration and sexuality, all of which serve to exteriorize or make visible the 'positive unconscious of knowledge' penetrating bodies and minds. Foucauldian discourse analysis (FDA) holds the potential to reveal who we are today as nurses and as a profession of nursing by facilitating our ability to identify and trace the effects of the discourses that determine the conditions of possibility for nursing practice that are continuously shaping and (re)shaping the knowledge of nursing and the profession of nursing as we know it. In making visible the chain of knowledge that orders the spaces nurses occupy, no less than their subjectivities, FDA is a powerful methodology for inquiring into nursing knowledge based on its provocation of deep critical reflection on the normalizing power of discourse.

"It's tough hanging-up a call": The relationships between calling and work hours, psychological detachment, sleep quality, and morning vigor.

It has been argued that when people believe that their work is a calling, it can often be experienced as an intense and consuming passion with significant personal meaning. While callings have been demonstrated to have several positive outcomes for individuals, less is known about the potential downsides for those who experience work in this way. This study develops a multiple-meditation model proposing that, while the intensity of a calling has a positive direct effect on work-related vigor, it motivates people to work longer hours, which both directly and indirectly via longer work hours, limits their psychological detachment from work in the evenings. In turn, this process reduces sleep quality and morning vigor. Survey and diary data of 193 church ministers supported all hypotheses associated with this model. This implies that intense callings may limit the process of recovery from work experiences. The findings contribute to a more balanced theoretical understanding of callings. (PsycINFO Database Record

Fatigue, Work Schedules, and Perceived Performance in Bedside Care Nurses.

Hospital nurses are expected to maintain optimal work performance; yet, fatigue can threaten safe practice and result in unfavorable patient outcomes. This descriptive cross-sectional study explored the association between fatigue, work schedules, and perceived work performance among nurses. The study sample included 77 bedside nurses who were mostly female, single, and between 20 and 29 years of age. The majority worked 8-hour shifts and overtime. Nurses who worked during off days reported significantly higher chronic fatigue compared with those nurses who took time off. Nurses who reported feeling refreshed after sleep had significantly less chronic and acute fatigue and more intershift recovery. Nurses with acute and chronic fatigue perceived poorer physical performance. Also, nurses who reported chronic fatigue perceived they were less alert and less able to concentrate when providing patient care. Less effective communication was also associated with acute and chronic fatigue. In conclusion, fatigue has safety implications for nurses' practice that should be monitored by nursing management.