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Careography: Staff Experiences of Navigating Decisions in Neonatology in Denmark.

Laura Emdal NavneMette N Svendsen
Published in: Medical anthropology (2017)
In this article, we explore medical doctors' moral experiences of being responsible for decisions on the lives and sometimes deaths of infants in a Danish Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Drawing on fieldwork, we investigate how clinicians navigate the tension between exercising medical authority and enabling parental involvement in decisions. Introducing the term "careography", we call attention to how the doctors steer this tension through care for the infant, parents, colleagues, and society in ways that help them overcome moral ambivalences. We suggest that "careography" holds analytical potential to bridge anthropological theories of power, experience, and care.
Keyphrases
  • healthcare
  • preterm infants
  • palliative care
  • mental health
  • quality improvement
  • medical students
  • pain management
  • working memory
  • affordable care act
  • risk assessment