From the ‘shop floor’ to the interview: Using metaphors to uncover invisible emotional labour in emergency department nurses

Abstract

This paper aims to offer methodological insight into the reflexive use of metaphors that assist in revealing the emotional labour of health care staff to themselves and to the researcher. It focusses on the method utilised for these semi-structured interviews, targeting the engrained and emotive experiences of emotional labour using metaphors. Taking metaphors from the ethnographic observation, ‘to’ the interview setting, proved a stimulating tool for lively discussion and narrative sharing. This approach offered an invaluable and enlightening tool for exploring the nurse’s experiences, it gave them a point of reference to discuss their challenging and personal experiences. It can offer other researchers, and particularly those studying ‘invisible’ labour (by subconscious nature or lack of physicality) a novel approach to data collection. The empirical study underpinning this article set out to explore, in particular, the ‘invisible’ emotional labour undertaken by nurses working within the emergency department (ED) setting. This is a clinical and nursing speciality facing sustained pressure in the English National Health Service (NHS) – a challenging and distinctive environment to nurse. Two EDs were used as the case studies for an in-depth ethnography (one District General Hospital and one University Teaching Hospital and Trauma Centre). As part of this, the 18 semi-structured, formal interviews were completed with ED nursing staff (to explore their experiences of emotional labour) and data was collected over a 6 month period.