title: Careful Words: Nursing, Language, and Emotion in Papua New Guinea.
abstract: Papua New Guinean nurses work in a sociomedical system in which cultural and linguistic diversity are matters of pressing concern. Using data drawn from ethnographic research with PNG nursing students, I show how nursing education socializes nurses to take stances toward language and communication that impact their care practices. I argue that nurses' use of language is shaped by their ethical commitments as educated Christians and indigenous concerns about the links between language, emotion, and health. In a resource-poor setting where health workers risk blame for structural inequalities, this "ethical metapragmatics" is an important but neglected facet of care work.
authors.affiliation: a School of People, Environment and Planning , Massey University , Auckland , New Zealand.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3478-3205
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Andersen
mesh_terms: D060432:Anthropology, Medical; D054521:Cultural Competency; D004506:Education, Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D004644:Emotions; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D010219:Papua New Guinea / Q000208:ethnology; D013338:Students, Nursing
keywords: Papua New Guinea; care; emotion; language ideology; professional nursing; sexually transmitted diseases