A look behind the screens in Papua New Guinea

Nursing care is affected by the culture we live in and even when nursing care is given the same way in different societies, it can be given that way for different reasons. This was found when doing a comparison between how certain aspects of nursing care were performed and viewed in Australia and Papua New Guinea. The framework for comparison was derived from part of Lawler's book (1991) Behind the Screens: Nursing, Somology, and the Problem of the Body. The feelings and accounts of staff and students working in Papua New Guinea (in 1997) are compared with those expressed by Australian nurses interviewed by Lawler in the mid 1980s. Interviews and observations in Papua New Guinea are summarised and then analysed looking at similarities and differences between the two cultures especially in giving body care and care after death.