"Am iz kwiin" (I'm his queen): Combining interpretative phenomenological analysis with a feminist approach to work with gems in a resource-constrained setting

This article focuses on working with gems using a feminist approach to interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) in a resource-constrained setting. The research explores the experiences of maternal disclosure of HIV to children of HIV positive mothers in Kingston, Jamaica. A feminist approach helps recognise power imbalances within research relationships and the women’s lived experiences. We present three “gems” which illuminate women’s lived experiences and explore how popularised representations of women’s sexuality and mothering influence disclosure discourses. We use emotion work as a conceptual resource to structure the women’s narratives and challenge existing policy discourses, which arguably represent disclosure within a binary, rationalist, decision-making framework. This article adds to global literature on maternal HIV disclosure and problematises policy discourses by bringing into relief the emotion work women engage in when deciding if and how to communicate their HIV status to their children. It adds to the body of research using IPA, particularly in resource-constrained settings where IPA has thus far had little application

The Role of Interpreters in Sense-Making by Women Leaders

In this study, we examine individual sense-making by women leaders using meta-synthesis, a modification of meta-ethnography, to analyze 11 vignettes written by women leaders published in three prior studies. The data were coded and the text analyzed, to create a new interpretation from the existing qualitative studies. Two theoretical lenses informed this study: gendered leadership in education contexts and sense-making. The data were organized into five categories and common to all was the finding that the women leaders tested their perceptions of events as a form of sense-making. Using Dervin's (2003) "situations-gaps-users" model we determined that most of the women relied upon interpreters (who in general are neither formal mentors nor advisors) to help them bridge information gaps

The moral cascade: Distress, eustress, and the virtuous organization

Organizational life increasingly shapes and is shaped by the moral life of individual employees. This paper offers a fresh approach to understanding the interactions among individual moral identity, the stated and unstated organizational values, and moral development of both the individual and the organization. A new theoretical framework, The Moral Cascade Model, posits that moral stress can have outcomes that enhance both the individual and the organization (moral eustress) or be a pernicious and destructive influence through a moral distress pathway that results in moral residue. The model provides new insights into why organizations would embrace moral dissonance as a means toward an increasingly virtuous organization. Implications for individual moral identity, including the intrapersonal experiences of moral prehension, moral stress, moral distress, and moral eustress are detailed, as are organizational manifestations and consequences. Avenues for further research are explored. © 2013 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved

Metric-driven harm: An exploration of unintended consequences of performance measurement

Performance measurement is an increasingly common element of the US health care system. Typically a proxy for high quality outcomes, there has been little systematic investigation of the potential negative unintended consequences of performance metrics, including metric-driven harm. This case study details an incidence of post-surgical metric-driven harm and offers Smith\u27s 1995 work and a patient centered, context sensitive metric model for potential adoption by nurse researchers and clinicians. Implications for further research are discussed. © 2013 Elsevier Inc

Narrating Gendered Leadership

Story: A few months after assuming my first university leadership position, I attended what I was told was an important professional meeting-a place where critical networking occurs. The conference began with a reception, and as I entered the room I noticed that most attendees were men who seemed to know one another already and formed conversation groups in closed circles. I saw a woman standing near the buffet; she was alone and occupying herself by selecting and slowly nibbling vegetables while she scanned the dynamics in the room. I recognized her from presentations she had given at other meetings, and as I walked in her direction, she offered a welcoming smile. Having attended these meetings before, she pointed out various people who were current or emerging powerbrokers in the group. As we chatted, another woman entered the room. “That’s Marleen,” the woman said, explaining that Marleen was dean at a major university and served on a number of important boards and committees. We watched as Marleen punctured and joined the closed circles