May McCreaddie | University of Stirling (original) (raw)

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Papers by May McCreaddie

Research paper thumbnail of Harsh Humour: a Therapeutic Discourse

Health & Social Care in the Community

Humour research in healthcare has tended to focus on rehearsed as opposed to spontaneous humour. ... more Humour research in healthcare has tended to focus on rehearsed as opposed to spontaneous humour. This paper reports an empirical example of spontaneous humour in healthcare interactions: a negative case analysis from a constructivist grounded theory study. Twenty Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS)-patient interactions and CNS pre- and postinteraction audio diaries provided the baseline data corpus. Follow-up interviews, field notes, focus groups and observations serviced theory generation with a constant comparison approach to data collection and analyses. Interpretative and illustrative frameworks incorporating humour theories, non-laughter humour support, discursive features and prosodical features of speech were applied to all data. This paper is based upon the negative case comprising a 90-minute follow-up interview and 10 hours of field note observations. The negative case - a CNS working with female drug users' sexual and reproductive health needs - contradicted emerging findings from the baseline data corpus. First, the negative case had greater awareness of humour, deliberately initiated humour and recognised parameters and exclusion zones. Second, a good patient personal was evident in the baseline data corpus but the negative case worked with 'bad' patients. Accordingly, a specific type of humour - harsh humour - was evident in the negative case. Harsh humour used areas of potential discord (e.g. drug use) as a focus of humour creation and maintenance. The deliberate initiation of harsh humour enabled the negative case and her colleagues to achieve their aims by engaging effectively with unpredictable, reluctant and recalcitrant patients. The negative case demonstrates how humour can be used to therapeutically enhance healthcare interactions with disenfranchised individuals. Humour is not superficial but integral to the accomplishment of key aspects of interactions. Health and social care workers should consider the potential for therapeutic humour to engage and maintain all patients - disenfranchised or otherwise - in healthcare interactions.

Research paper thumbnail of Ensnared by Positivity: a Constructivist Approach to'Being Positive'In Cancer Care.

European Journal of Oncology …

Background The concept of 'positive thinking' emerged in cancer care in the 1990s. The ... more Background The concept of 'positive thinking' emerged in cancer care in the 1990s. The usefulness of this approach in cancer care is under increasing scrutiny with existing research, definitions and approaches debated. Nurses may wish to judiciously examine the debate in context ...

Research paper thumbnail of Reconciling the Good Patient Persona With Problematic and Non-Problematic Humour: A Grounded Theory

International journal of nursing studies, Jan 1, 2009

Research paper thumbnail of Humour and Laughter

The handbook of communication skills, Jan 1, 1997

... comic relief to a boring conversation or relieves the tedium of an uneventful activity such a... more ... comic relief to a boring conversation or relieves the tedium of an uneventful activity such as waiting for a bus or queuing for an exhibition. On the other side of the coin, humour can help to reduce unwanted and unpleasantly high levels of anxiety and stress. Laughter, according ...

Research paper thumbnail of The Purpose and Function of Humour In Health, Health Care and Nursing: a Narrative Review

Journal of advanced nursing, Jan 1, 2008

Research paper thumbnail of A Forum for Supporting Clinical Nurse Specialists. The Number of Clinical Nurse Specialists is Increasing

Research paper thumbnail of The Process of Developing Audiovisual Patient Information: Challenges and Opportunities

Journal of Clinical Nursing, Jan 1, 2007

Research paper thumbnail of Pain Management In Drag Users

Nursing standard, Jan 1, 2002

RefDoc Bienvenue - Welcome. Refdoc est un service / is powered by. ...

Research paper thumbnail of Evolving Grounded Theory Methodology: Towards a Discursive Approach.

International journal of nursing studies, Jan 1, 2009

Research paper thumbnail of Palliative Nursing Care for People With Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

This chapter focuses on the issues relating to the provision of palliative nursing care for peopl... more This chapter focuses on the issues relating to the provision of palliative nursing care for people who have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. It begins by provid-ing a background to HIV/AIDS before reviewing the impact of the disease on the international community. The chapter ...

Research paper thumbnail of Harsh Humour: a Therapeutic Discourse

Health & Social Care in the Community

Humour research in healthcare has tended to focus on rehearsed as opposed to spontaneous humour. ... more Humour research in healthcare has tended to focus on rehearsed as opposed to spontaneous humour. This paper reports an empirical example of spontaneous humour in healthcare interactions: a negative case analysis from a constructivist grounded theory study. Twenty Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS)-patient interactions and CNS pre- and postinteraction audio diaries provided the baseline data corpus. Follow-up interviews, field notes, focus groups and observations serviced theory generation with a constant comparison approach to data collection and analyses. Interpretative and illustrative frameworks incorporating humour theories, non-laughter humour support, discursive features and prosodical features of speech were applied to all data. This paper is based upon the negative case comprising a 90-minute follow-up interview and 10 hours of field note observations. The negative case - a CNS working with female drug users' sexual and reproductive health needs - contradicted emerging findings from the baseline data corpus. First, the negative case had greater awareness of humour, deliberately initiated humour and recognised parameters and exclusion zones. Second, a good patient personal was evident in the baseline data corpus but the negative case worked with 'bad' patients. Accordingly, a specific type of humour - harsh humour - was evident in the negative case. Harsh humour used areas of potential discord (e.g. drug use) as a focus of humour creation and maintenance. The deliberate initiation of harsh humour enabled the negative case and her colleagues to achieve their aims by engaging effectively with unpredictable, reluctant and recalcitrant patients. The negative case demonstrates how humour can be used to therapeutically enhance healthcare interactions with disenfranchised individuals. Humour is not superficial but integral to the accomplishment of key aspects of interactions. Health and social care workers should consider the potential for therapeutic humour to engage and maintain all patients - disenfranchised or otherwise - in healthcare interactions.

Research paper thumbnail of Ensnared by Positivity: a Constructivist Approach to'Being Positive'In Cancer Care.

European Journal of Oncology …

Background The concept of 'positive thinking' emerged in cancer care in the 1990s. The ... more Background The concept of 'positive thinking' emerged in cancer care in the 1990s. The usefulness of this approach in cancer care is under increasing scrutiny with existing research, definitions and approaches debated. Nurses may wish to judiciously examine the debate in context ...

Research paper thumbnail of Reconciling the Good Patient Persona With Problematic and Non-Problematic Humour: A Grounded Theory

International journal of nursing studies, Jan 1, 2009

Research paper thumbnail of Humour and Laughter

The handbook of communication skills, Jan 1, 1997

... comic relief to a boring conversation or relieves the tedium of an uneventful activity such a... more ... comic relief to a boring conversation or relieves the tedium of an uneventful activity such as waiting for a bus or queuing for an exhibition. On the other side of the coin, humour can help to reduce unwanted and unpleasantly high levels of anxiety and stress. Laughter, according ...

Research paper thumbnail of The Purpose and Function of Humour In Health, Health Care and Nursing: a Narrative Review

Journal of advanced nursing, Jan 1, 2008

Research paper thumbnail of A Forum for Supporting Clinical Nurse Specialists. The Number of Clinical Nurse Specialists is Increasing

Research paper thumbnail of The Process of Developing Audiovisual Patient Information: Challenges and Opportunities

Journal of Clinical Nursing, Jan 1, 2007

Research paper thumbnail of Pain Management In Drag Users

Nursing standard, Jan 1, 2002

RefDoc Bienvenue - Welcome. Refdoc est un service / is powered by. ...

Research paper thumbnail of Evolving Grounded Theory Methodology: Towards a Discursive Approach.

International journal of nursing studies, Jan 1, 2009

Research paper thumbnail of Palliative Nursing Care for People With Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

This chapter focuses on the issues relating to the provision of palliative nursing care for peopl... more This chapter focuses on the issues relating to the provision of palliative nursing care for people who have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. It begins by provid-ing a background to HIV/AIDS before reviewing the impact of the disease on the international community. The chapter ...

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