Health Care Sociology

Hospitals can be a great source of abundant social interactions: doctor to nurse, patient to doctor, family member to patient, coworker to coworker. By utilizing the sociological perspective, the healthcare social setting is an ideal location to incite micro-level qualitative research techniques. Micro sociology is sociological investigation that stresses the study of small groups, often through experimental means. Qualitative research is a study collected from what can be observed form a naturalistic social setting. Through going through a shift as a housekeeper in the social setting of RMH hospital in Rockford, IL, I collected all data through observation of two small groups and their social relationships, thus making this micro-level
Kazmouz in concerns to one of his patients whom was supposed to be released later that day. Using a professional tone, Laurie inquired through coalition if it was a good idea for the patient to go home since they had spiked a fever recently. A coalition is a temporary or permanent alliance geared toward a common goal. In this instance, the nurse and doctor formed a coalition toward the goal to better care for a patient. Dr. Kazmouz then agreed with Laurie that they would monitor said patient and discuss a discharge the next day. He said he would personally check in on the patient, and inform them of the discharge changes. He then instructed Laurie to use the ‘smiley face scale’ as a means to use symbols for the patient to indicate their pain level. A symbol is a gesture, object, or word that forms the basis of human communication. In this situation Laurie was instructed to use the ‘smiley face scale’ which is a scale ranging from one to ten where faces with expressions of no pain to agonizing pain are associated in order to give the patient a recognizable way to rate their pain. Laurie’s questioning for approval affirms Dr. Kazmouz’s master status as a doctor. A master status is a status that dominates others and determines a person’s general position in a society. In this situation, Dr. Kazmouz’s master status is assigned by Laurie and other staff that refer to him and is defined by the context of being at the
At this time during the year the environmental services department undergoes testing and each employee is rated on their ability to complete the task at hand based on an ideal type. An ideal type is a construct or model for evaluating specific cases. For the environmental services department these yearly evaluations provide feedback on how the hospital is viewed on cleanliness as well as how personable the staff is. Lindora is an average thirty five year old woman of Russian ethnicity, while Matt is a heavyset tall man in his early thirties who is also of Russian origin. While waiting for the elevator to head to the third floor of the hospital, I was able to observe Lindora and Matt’s conversations about their evaluations that would be happening later that day. They both discussed how they were anxious and wished particular supervisors would evaluate them, all the while, they transitioned between English and Russian fluidly demonstrating bilingualism. Bilingualism is the use of two or more languages in a particular setting, such as the workplace, treating each language as equally legitimate. While many would assume that Lindora and Matt were speaking two languages because other people were near them, I assume that they just have not fully developed their skills within the English language and interchange words they are unfamiliar with their native language. Both Lindora and Matt have worked at