Time for Talk: The Work of Reflexivity in Developing Empirical Understanding of Speech and Language Therapist and Nursing Interaction on Stroke Wards

Abstract

This chapter explores the contribution made by reflexive work to ethnographic findings with respect to time for interaction between speech and language therapists and nurses. The study explored information-sharing between professionals from these disciplines on three stroke units across three hospitals in the UK. The researcher was a member of one of these professions (speech and language therapy), making reflexivity a particularly important mechanism for approaching the perspectives of both disciplines in as egalitarian a way as possible. The ethnography provided an explanation for how the temporal-spatial context of stroke unit care influenced the nature of the information that was shared, with a privileging effect on information that was quick to share and relatively easy to use. Speech and language therapists needed to manage their information-sharing needs with nurses in a context where they perceived interaction to be interruptive to nursing work. The process of doing the research involved asking nurses to divert attention from patient care to participate in research activities, providing insights about time and space that mirrored aspects of empirical findings. Reflexive work thus served both as mechanism for accounting for subjectivities and as an additional lens for understanding the findings.