ABSTRACT
I did my best to focus on situations where the nurses were faced with difficult moral choices. It soon became clear, however, that people in the ward were commonly discussed in terms that were other than purely functional or ‘professional’. On my second day I made a note in my book as follows:
Some patients are distinctly popular and some unpopular. This does not easily fit them as stereotypes however. Neil (a 23-year-old with
complications of a sexually transmitted disease) has an arguably stigmatising illness, and (being rendered very immobile from arthritis) is very demanding in the sense of knowing what he wants. He seems very popular however.
