Emotional Labour in the Nursing Care of Children, Young People and their Families

This practical textbook uses case studies to highlight how emotional labour can arise and be managed in a range of settings where children’s nurses work. The book begins with an introduction to ideas about emotional labour and discusses their relevance to children’s nursing, emphasising that children’s nurses not only deal with the emotional needs of children and themselves, but also those of parents and carers. The book then takes a case study approach, presenting a wide range of chapters, each focusing on a different area of practice across acute care and long-term care.

Each chapter explores the relevance of emotional labour to the topic in question, presenting a case study, discussing the issues raised by the case study in the context of the wider literature, and considering how potential challenges could be managed. The second, thematic part of the book builds on the case study chapters to discuss challenges and strategies for managing emotional labour, disenfranchised grief, and professional boundaries in children’s nursing. Chapters include ‘Time out’, ‘Reflection’, and ‘Key Points’ sections to encourage the transfer of learning to practice.

This is the first book devoted to emotional labour in nursing care of children, young people and their families. It is an essential text for child nursing field students and a useful evidence-based reference for practitioners and scholars with an interest in emotional labour.