When Will They Mend It? Dialogue and Storytelling at Visiting Time (2006)

Abstract

This article represents a real account of visiting my mother in hospital during 2006. Too often we see and hear what has been termed ‘bad practice’ going on around us. We may not be in our professional role at the time although our professional identity, our values, our embedded professional codes of practice, remain with us constantly. If we were in our professional role we would have no hesitation in making the necessary steps to ensure that bad practice is reported and acted upon. However, if the person involved is a very close relative who specifically asks us not to take any action because they fear that any repercussions will ‘make things bad for them’ we are left with an ethical dilemma about what we should do. This article re-enacts the dialogue between my mother and me during visiting time in a hospital ward where she stayed for several months following a reactive depressive illness. All names have been changed in order to ensure confidentiality and respect for the patients mentioned.

Keywords:

• Bad Practice
• Discrimination
• Identity
• Ethical Dilemmas
• Respect

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Isabel Williams

Isabel Williams is a Senior Lecturer, Pathway Leader, Module Leader, and Academic Tutor on the BA, MA and Post Qualifying pathways in social work at Anglia Ruskin University. She is a qualified nurse, social worker, teacher and holds an MBA. She is currently undertaking doctoral research on collaboration between social work lecturers in the United Kingdom and India