I am new to the listserve - Asst Prof at Rutgers Univ, NJ, USA
I did my dissertation - using grounded theory - professional life
histories of nurse-midwives who worked at Frontier nursing Service,
Kentucky 1925-1965 - resulting in a substantive theoretical model
called Profound Knowing. I interviewed 19 midwives in their home,
over a 2 day period. 11 in England - N, S, W, E and 8 in USA
Michigan, New York, Kentucky, Louisiana, Iowa, Ohio.
Re: Personal safety. I had a central location and family that knew
my itinerary - I checked in every 2 days. On the road I had travel
aid numbers in the case of a car breakdown. I did not have a
cell phone - although I would now if I continued this project - which
I hope to do.
Re: safety for the women I interviewed - Mean age 73.5 (range 60-93)
The interviews were in their own home. All of the women received 2
initial letters describing the project, consent forms. I gave a bio
on myself and a mutual acquaintance who could vouch for me. In
England I had a midwife who knew me personally and was able to
act as contact for the other midwives.
Re: enviornmental safety. I had a large steamer-type wardrobe
case - 150 pounds when full. It contained audio and video equipment,
a small TV - AC/DC adaptor sets - battery rechargers - cameras -
supplies - back up equipment - audio and videotapes - etc.
It was a hefty and complex set of equipment - that had the additional
challenge of needing to adapt to different electrical currents in
England. Prior to leaving the USA - I met with a consultant
videographer and we went through setting up equipment several times.
On arrival in England - I repeated the process with the family that
I was staying with - to work out any glitches - and there were many.
Since the interviews occurred in the midwives homes I needed to
adapt to their environment on arrival - and set equipment up so that
I could audio and video record (all with participant permission) -
changing lighting as necessary and organizing equipment so that
it could tape what I needed and also not get in the way of the woman
I was interviewing. I did this by showing them all the equipment -
how I had learned to compact it into a small space and asked them
to show me where it would be best placed and out of their way.
I taped cords to the floor and we often placed carpets over the taped
cords. We selected a corner or an area where I could put the
equipment for the night (2 day tapings). I was fortunate in that
this proved to be no problem at all for all my interviews.
I'm not sure what additional safety issues you had in mind - but look
forward to hearing from others.
Erica Kathryn, PhD Family Nurse Practitioner and Nurse-Midwife
[log in to unmask]
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|