Abstract: This thesis is about what the author terms the 'invisible bodies of nursing'. The physical body of the nurse, the body of practice, and the body of knowledge. The physical body of the nurse is absent in most nursing literature, it is sometimes inferred but seldom discussed. The contention is that the physical body of the nurse is invisible because it is tacit. Much nursing practice is invisible because it is perceived by many nurses to be inarticulable and is carried out within a private discourse of nursing, silently and secretly. Nursing knowledge is invisible because it is not seen as being valid or authoritative or sanctioned as a legitimate discourse by the dominant discourse. These issues are approach through an evolving 'specular' lens. Luce Irigaray's philosophy of the feminine and her deconstructing and reconstructing of psychoanalytic structures for women inform this work. Michel Foucault's genealogical approach to analysing discourses is utilized, along with Maurice Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology. Nursing's struggle for recognition is ongoing. The author discusses strategies that nurses could use to make themselves more 'visible' in healthcare structures. The exploration of the embodied self of the nurse and through this the embodied knowledge of nursing is nascent.

Abstract: The study reconceptualises the process of nursing practice where health is expanding consciousness. The praxis methodology and design derive from the findings of the previous study (Litchfield, 1993) through which a framework for personal practice was articulated. The philosophical premises were hermeneutic and dialogic reflecting a narrative orientation within a participatory paradigm. Ontology and epistemology merge and language is fundamental. The findings from this subsequent study depict the process of modeling practice as a tetrahedron to show inter-relatedness of four facets, each defined completely by the others: partnership, dialogue, pattern recognition and health as dialectic. Five young families with complex health circumstances were preferred by Plunket Nurses and visited at hole to talk about health and the family. Th e process of health patterning ended with indication of insight as the potential for action; the partnership ended as the closure of the initial contract to provide a summary text to the family. Transformative change in family living was identified. The continuous analysis of the scripts of the evolving conversations and summary text showed the relational, dialogic processes were identified as vision – finding purpose to act in the here-and-now against the backdrop of past and potential of the future; and community – a sense of being connected, participant and relevant in society. This process of research, as if practice, presented health and caring as synonymous and core of the discipline of nursing

Abstract: In 1991 a new labor relations regime was introduced which overturned a 100 year old pattern of 'historic compromise' between capital and labor. In a labor market structured by gender and race, this major change in bargaining arrangements has already widened the pay gap between men's and women's average earnings and reduced union coverage, particularly among women workers in low paid clerical, sales and service work. This study, documenting recent feminist struggle in the area of labor relations, provides a first look at the collective organisation of women under two different labor relations regimes.In the 1980s a particular conjunction of occupational unionism and feminism in New Zealand facilitated some significant improvements in the situation of women in paid employment. The thesis examines feminist strategies which led to a Working Women's Charter adopted by unions, an increase in women holding office in unions, complaints procedures for sexual harassment, standing committees to represent women and Maori in the union movement, and legislation to implement equal employment opportunity programmes and equal pay for work of equal value. It looks at how the institution-alisation of bargaining by occupation supported industrially weak workers and underpinned the unionisation of women, which occupational unions and women's own strategies of organisation provided the autonomous 'political space' to organise around issues specifically relevant to women.At the core of the thesis are three case studies of unions representing three of the occupations in which women are concentrated: clerical work, nursing and cleaning. It examines commonalities and contrasts in the industrial situations covered by these unions, and differences and similarities in the strategies they adopted. The focus of research, conducted between late 1990 and early1993, was the views of officials of these unions in the context of radical change in the regulation of wage bargaining. Particular attention was given to the way issues relating to women workers were prioritised in unions led by women or by men.These case studies are contextualised in chapters examining the position of women in the labor market, feminist organisation within the union movement, and corporatist change in labor relations legislation. In tracing the development of feminist unionism in the 1980s, the thesis considers the strategies of the NZ Council of Trade Unions and looks at what the radical change in bargaining structure will mean for collective organisation by women in paid employment

Abstract: The basic objective of the survey was to establish the proportion of the nursing staff employed in hospitals who were assigned to Intensive Nursing Care units. Twenty one different types of units were identified with a total of 118 units. Established in twenty four of the twenty nine hospitals throughout the country, Nearly 12 % of registered Nurses where ICU's were established were allocated to these units but the proportion s ranged from a low of 7% in one major Board area, to a high of 26% in another major Board area