title: The postmodern heart: a discourse analysis of a booklet on pacemaker implantation.
abstract: This paper provides a deconstructive reading of an education booklet aimed at patients who may be scheduled for permanent cardiac pacemakers, and argues that pacemaker implantation is being constructed as a routine, uncomplicated procedure. The way language and image in the booklet convey a dominant preferred perspective on pacemaker implantation will be questioned. Some of the major issues explored are: the patient is stereotyped as a male patriarch; the fundamental right of informed choice is omitted; the ownership of decision-making is given to the physician; and the cardiac pacemaker is portrayed as remarkable and trouble-free. Implications for the meaning of these dominant perspectives for nursing practice are explored.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Griffith University. c.anderson@mailbox.gu.edu.au
authors.forename: Carole
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McAllister
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Moyle
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024802:Nurse's Role; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013664:Teaching Materials