Organisational dressage: Conflicting embodied rhythms of a health station

Abstract

Based on an ethnographically inspired approach, the article examines how the organisation of workspaces shapes healthcare work and its embodied everyday rhythms. The data is gathered in a health station, which has been redesigned. We approach the health station utilizing Henri Lefebvre's (1991) theory on the production of space. The article analyses how the conflicting values of a health station are embodied in the workplace, using Lefebvre's rhythmanalysis and the concept of organisational dressage. The analysis shows tensions between conceived space and lived space with their different rhythms. The new health station appears to reshape organisational hierarchies by deepening existing inequalities, such as those linked to gender, age and occupational status. The findings suggest that spatial changes have led to the development of more meta-work, seen in the adoption of new bodily and spatial practices by those involved in patient care to mitigate deficiencies in facilities. The article suggests that meta-work can be interpreted as organisational dressage that requires not only constant cognitive adjustment but also new bodily and spatial practices. The article provides insight into how the economisation of healthcare is grounded in the embodied spatial practices and rhythms of healthcare organisations.