Doctoral Dissertation Research: Clinicians as Culture Bearers: A Study of the Dying Process in the American Hospital

博士论文研究：临床医生作为文化承载者：美国医院死亡过程的研究

• 批准号: 0350120
• 负责人: Susan Mckinnon
• 金额: $ 1.17万
• 依托单位: University of Virginia Main Campus
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-01-15 至 2004-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0350120&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Clinicians; Culture

While death is not infrequent in the American hospital, a "good death" there is hard to come by. The death of the patient clearly contradicts the hospital mission of rescue, stabilization and recovery, but it is seldom described as a conflict in American cultural values. This dissertation research by a cultural anthropologist examines the conflict between two American values: the commitment to saving personal lives and the desire for a death with personal meaning. The central question is how do conflicting norms, both in American culture and within the hospital, prevent its clinicians from attending to the restoration of selfhood to the patient who is approaching death, making it impossible to achieve "death with dignity?" Using retrospective interviews and participant observation with clinicians and administrators the student will study two city hospitals in in a Mid Atlantic city who must mediate between America's contradictory ideals of rescue and "death with dignity" as they seek to treat life-threatening illness. Broader Impact: The scarcity of "death with dignity" in American hospitals receives continued public attention in end-of-life discussions. The use of diverse hospital sites and contexts in this project will generate practical findings relevant not only to clinicians in acute care institutions, but also to those in other facilities where patients die, such as hospices, long term care and rehabilitation settings. In addition the project contributes to the training of a young social scientist.

虽然死亡在美国医院并不罕见，但“好死”却很难实现。 病人的死亡显然与医院的抢救、稳定和恢复的使命相矛盾，但很少被描述为美国文化价值观的冲突。本论文由一位文化人类学家研究两种美国价值观之间的冲突：拯救个人生命的承诺和对具有个人意义的死亡的渴望。核心问题是，美国文化和医院内部相互冲突的规范如何阻止临床医生为濒临死亡的病人恢复自我，使其不可能实现“有尊严的死亡”？通过对临床医生和管理人员的回顾性访谈和参与性观察，学生将研究大西洋城中部的两家城市医院，他们必须在美国相互矛盾的救援理想和“有尊严的死亡”之间进行调解，因为他们寻求治疗危及生命的疾病。更广泛的影响：在美国医院中，“有尊严的死亡”的稀缺性在生命终结的讨论中受到了公众的持续关注。在本项目中使用不同的医院地点和背景将产生实际的发现，不仅与急性护理机构的临床医生有关，而且与患者死亡的其他设施，如临终关怀，长期护理和康复机构有关。此外，该项目还有助于培训一名青年社会科学家。