Nurses’ work practices in design: managing the complexity of pain

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to understand the activities in nurses’ work practices in relation to the design process of a self-monitoring application.

Design/methodology/approach

A design ethnographic approach was applied in this study.

Findings

To solve the problem of translating highly qualitative phenomena, such as pain, into the particular abstract features of a self-monitoring application, design participants had to balance these two aspects by managing complexity. In turn, the nurses’ work practices have changed because it now involves a new activity based on a different logic than the nurses’ traditional work practices.

Originality/value

This study describes a new activity included in nurses’ work practices when the nurses became part of a design process. This study introduces a novel way on how to gain a deeper understanding of existing professional practice through a detailed study of activities taking place in a design process. This study explores the possible implications for nurses’ professional practices when they participate in a self-monitoring application design process.

Citation

Cerna, K., Weilenmann, A., Ivarsson, J., Rysedt, H., Sigridur Islind, A., Lundin, J. and Steineck, G. (2020), "Nurses’ work practices in design: managing the complexity of pain", Journal of Workplace Learning, Vol. 32 No. 2, pp. 135-146. https://doi.org/10.1108/JWL-05-2019-0062