Shaping the future: reforming routine emergency nursing work

The provision of emergency care, for many A&E nurses, is dependent upon taken-for-granted assumptions, associated with the ongoing management of the changing shape of the work. In particular, routine working practices and procedures reflect a collective ideology of A&E nursing labour which involves moving people on and out of the emergency department. Subscribing to this ideology and realizing good shape provides nurses with a feeling that they are in control of their work and have done a good job. Analysis of the NHS Plan has identified that the Government's goals for reform support as well as challenge the ways in which nurses currently strive towards maintaining the good shape of their work. In particular, the ideology of patient-centredness and the Chief Nursing Officer's ten key roles for nurses, provide an opportunity for nurses to explore the ways in which they can cultivate their routine activities and contribute to the shape of future emergency nursing work.