Ghanaian nurses at a crossroads. Managing expectations on a medical ward Christine Bohmig

Link: http://hdl.handle.net/1887/150...
Source: African Studies Centre, Leiden

Nursing as a profession is practiced worldwide in hospitals, clinics, health centres, and individual homes. While there are universal definitions of nursing and universal criteria for training student nurses, the working reality that nurses face differs widely. This ethnography provides insights into the daily routine of nurses on a medical ward in a teaching hospital in Ghana. Next to a description of historical developments of nursing, it analyses nurses' motives, the nature of their work, and power relations on the ward. This study also looks at perceptions of nursing in Ghanaian society. Having been trained in western concepts of care, the nurses on the ward are confronted with demands and challenges not covered in their educational training such as personnel shortage, limited equipment and financial restrictions. In addition, tradition, religion and the notion of respect influence the work of nurses. By reflecting on this profession and its position in the health care setting, the author shows how notions of health, care and death are shaped by the surrounding culture.

Keywords

Xoliswa Ndoyiya: Ukutya Kwasekhaya

Xoliswa Ndoyiya: Ukutya KwasekhayaTastes from Nelson Mandela’s kitchen

A collection of recipes by Nelson Mandela's personal chef, this book contains the food served to visiting heads of state, celebrities, politicians for more than 20 years. Featuring some of the favourite former South African president's favourite meals including samp and beans, farm chicken, tripe, this book also features paella, peri-peri chicken, prawn curry, and myriad of other delights. With simple, delicious and nourishing recipes, it will interest those who wish to prepare meals that are both elegant and healthy.More

New arrivals

New titles in our library 12/2016

Our library has aquired a number of new and interesting books. Here is the list of the latest titles.

Blood Brothers: The Fatal Friendship Between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X by Randy Roberts and Johnny Smith
Fashion Cities Africa by Hannah Azieb Pool
Frantz Fanon: Toward a Revolutionary Humanismby Christopher Lee
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty by Robinson, James A., Acemoglu, Daron
Shakespeare in Swahililand: Adventures With the Ever-Living Poet by Edward Wilson-Lee
A History of Modern Africa: 1800 to the Present by Richard J. Reid
Authentically African: Arts and the Transnational Politics of Congolese Culture by Sarah Van Beurden
Children in Slavery through the Ages by by Gwyn Campbell, Suzanne Miers, Joseph C. Miller
Global Health in Africa: Historical Perspectives on Disease Control by Tamara Giles-Vernick
Rumba on the River: A History of the Popular Music of the Two Congos by Gary Stewart
Women and Slavery, Vol. 1: Africa, the Indian Ocean World, and the Medieval North Atlantic by Gwyn Campbell
Women and Slavery, Vol. 2: The Modern Atlantic by Gwyn Campbell
Cahier d'un Retour Au Pays Natal by Aimé Cesaire
Healing Traditions: African Medicine, Cultural Exchange and Competition in South Africa, 1820-1948 by Karen Elizabeth Flint
Global Education Policy and International Development: New Agendas, Issues and Policies by Antoni Verger
Black Skin, White Coats: Nigerian Psychiatrists, Decolonization, and the Globalization of Psychiatry by Matthew M. Heaton