“I don’t have any emotions”: An ethnography of emotional labour and feeling rules in the emergency department

Aims: This study aims to apply Hochschild's theory of emotional labour to emergency care, and uncover the ‘specialty-specific’ feeling rules driving this labour. Despite the importance of positive nurse well-being, the emotional labour of nursing (a great influencer in wellbeing) remains neglected. 

Design and Methods: Ethnography enabled immersion in the ED setting, gathering the lived experiences and narratives of the ED nursing team. We undertook first-hand observations at one major trauma centre ED and one district general ED including semi-structured interviews (18). A reflexive and interpretive approach towards thematic analysis was used. 

Results: We unearthed and conceptualized four feeling rules born from this context and offer extensive insights into the emotional labour of emergency nurses. 

Conclusion: Understanding the emotional labour and feeling rules of various nursing specialties offers critical insight into the challenges facing staff - fundamental for nursing well-being and associated retention programs. 

Impact: What problem did the study address?. What were the main findings?. Where and on whom will the research have impact?. Academically, this research expands our understanding - we know little of nurses’ feeling rules and how specialties influence them. Clinically, (including service managers and policy makers) there are practical implications for nurse well-being.