Dignity and Dirty Work: Nurses’ Experiences in Managing Genetic Termination for Fetal Anomaly

摘要

Qualitative research was conducted with forty-one female registered nurses from four Canadian hospitals who manage the genetic termination (GT) procedure for women who end a wanted pregnancy due to fetal anomaly. Based on the sociological concept of dirty work, interest focused on nurses experiences with work that is viewed as unpleasant and undesirable, work that others would prefer not to do or even know about. The absence of institutional support led to a number of problems for the nurses. They readily discussed situations fraught with dilemmas and frustrations, yet they described this work as professionally rewarding and personally gratifying. They found strategies to respond to the dirty work aspects of their job. Particularly, the quality of care they were able to provide transformed their job from dirty work and led them to find dignity and satisfaction.