  |
||
|
||
|
Title: Target of opportunity Rating: 2.6 out of 4 Reference: Toronto: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation,
1993. Abstract: In Canada, nurses, along with police, are most likely to be assaulted on the job. Funding is not available for better security for health care workers; swearing, biting, hitting and threats are dismissed as "part of the job". Though violence against women in health care has doubled in the past ten years, nurses who take cases to court receive no support from hospital administration. Currently, hospitals are looking at new ways of dealing with confrontations that lead to violence. Library of Congress subjects: Nurses--Abuse of—Ontario Women--Crimes against—Ontario Violence in hospitals--Ontario
Reviews and Numerical Ratings 3 The video adequately connects the issues of workplace safety, violence against women, and problems around adequate funding for protecting nurses. The video also addresses the need for government & legislative support for women and workplaces in general. The re-enactments of violent situations made for good visuals. Sarah Rogers 1 I would not show this. Although the topic is an excellent one, it was dealt with in a hodgepodge, superficial, stereotypical, politically problematic way. This video really rubbed me the wrong way, especially after seeing it after Myths about Madness. The focus here, despite any articulations of the contrary, was misplaced to cases, and away from structural level. The only place I might use it is in a class on media & ideology as an example of bad media & neoconservative ideology. Deborah Davidson 3 I’d never thought of nurses as having risky jobs, I guess their risks are taken for granted & normalized. The video reveals the conflict between care & violence, and how women nurses, in particular, are vulnerable considering the larger systemic sexism against women, and the misogyny of some male patients who are physical with the women, call them “bitches”, etc. Although male patients also get physical with the male administrators, they’re not as quick to get violent with them and see them as having more authority. The nurses’ complaints aren’t taken seriously, but instead are cast off by the male administration as something that “goes with the job” – that’s part of how women’s concerns in the larger world aren’t taken seriously. The injured nurses themselves do not associate the violence with their gender, and I hadn’t made that association before seeing the video either. The nurses seem to lack critical, sociological thinking on the issue, and I think this influences how the male administration responds. You’d have to have some sociological background & theory to analyse this, or hear questions from the instructor that point out these issues, because the analysis doesn’t jump out at you. It’s a good video but I wouldn’t call it “excellent”. Besides ignoring sexism, it also ignores issues of racism in nursing and the double prejudices women of colour nurses face. Though there’s many nurses who are women of colour, only one is depicted, & that’s in a dramatization. For courses in Sociology, Nursing, and Women’s Studies, focusing on gender & violence. For students at any level. Kisrene McKenzie (undergraduate) 3 Excellent exposé of the propensity for experiencing assault in an occupation in which one would not readily label it as “high risk.” Incidents of nurses being kicked, punched, slapped are shown as typical rather than abnormal. Nurses are displayed as easy targets for hostile, elderly, mentally ill, and often intoxicated patients to act out their aggression. They are often robbed of their ability to speak out because they are taught to be compassionate, e.g., to recognize alcoholism as a disease. Exposes how the voices of nurses are hijacked by hospitals that threaten unemployment if they speak out or file suits. This is a grand illustration of how patient’s rights and needs are in vogue and prioritized at the expense of nurses’ safety. The video demonstrates that cutting hospital budgets has served to escalate violence towards nurses - members of a predominantly female profession. Importantly, the video identifies a hierarchy of professional importance: doctors’ safety is seen as paramount while nurses’ safety is seen as insignificant. A rich feminist analysis, particularly of policy-making, could have been part of the video since these occupations are still very gendered. However, the omission of such an analysis does not diminish the importance of this video’s exposure of violence in the nursing profession. For students at any level. Belinda Godwin 3 Excellent pace, informative, compelling, uncommonly
effective dramatizations. It dispels stereotypes about what kinds of
work are dangerous but includes only a passing reference to structural
changes & omits analysis of gender (who hits whom most?) - these
would be important to address in class. Lecture topics: political economy
of health, women and work. Kathy Bischoping & Riley Olstead
About the project | Book a video for class | Enter the Library Catalogue | Send us feedback | Back to main |
