The Anatomy of Folklore Groups in Your Common Hospital
The Anatomy of Folklore Groups in Your Common Hospital
Folklore is all around us, although many of us don’t recognize it. It is vast, from the traditions we participate in, to the superstitions we utilize. Why do we do the things we do? Is it because we were raised that way? Did we pick it up at school, or from a friend? People are constantly processing and employing information into their everyday actions from the environment around them. Many of the actions we display come from the groups we associate in. Martha C. Sims and Martine Stephens in Living Folklore: Second Edition state that common types of folklore groups are formed from family, school and work (e.g. occupation). Relating to folklore, the information we communicate among each other is an informal process that bonds people together, and conveys a person’s identity. How can that fit into a hospital setting? As an occupational group, a hospital provides excellent examples. Many people join a group because they wish to express their beliefs and values. Not many a person would go through years of medical school to help heal people without the value of human life in mind. Even with the groups of doctors, nurses and assistants put aside, there are other people without a medical background employed at hospitals, such as housekeepers and secretaries. Even if a person chooses to work without the values and beliefs another person might have, they still may work there for hierarchy, job skills, or membership. With such an assortment of employees working in one place, it is natural for different groups, or cliques, to form. It is within these cliques that stories and skills are shared and passed among coworkers. One housekeeper may pass along to another, for example, a quicker and more efficient way to sterilize a room. That story may be circulated and utilized between the other housekeepers, even after the original storyteller has moved on. One part of folklore is the stories people
Folklore is all around us, although many of us don’t recognize it. It is vast, from the traditions we participate in, to the superstitions we utilize. Why do we do the things we do? Is it because we were raised that way? Did we pick it up at school, or from a friend? People are constantly processing and employing information into their everyday actions from the environment around them. Many of the actions we display come from the groups we associate in. Martha C. Sims and Martine Stephens in Living Folklore: Second Edition state that common types of folklore groups are formed from family, school and work (e.g. occupation). Relating to folklore, the information we communicate among each other is an informal process that bonds people together, and conveys a person’s identity. How can that fit into a hospital setting? As an occupational group, a hospital provides excellent examples. Many people join a group because they wish to express their beliefs and values. Not many a person would go through years of medical school to help heal people without the value of human life in mind. Even with the groups of doctors, nurses and assistants put aside, there are other people without a medical background employed at hospitals, such as housekeepers and secretaries. Even if a person chooses to work without the values and beliefs another person might have, they still may work there for hierarchy, job skills, or membership. With such an assortment of employees working in one place, it is natural for different groups, or cliques, to form. It is within these cliques that stories and skills are shared and passed among coworkers. One housekeeper may pass along to another, for example, a quicker and more efficient way to sterilize a room. That story may be circulated and utilized between the other housekeepers, even after the original storyteller has moved on. One part of folklore is the stories people
Cited: “Being a team and not a clique.” Allnurses.com. 25 Apr. 2008. Web. 3 Mar. 2012. n.p. ‹ http://allnurses.com/nurse-colleague-patient/being-team-not-557315.html›. Mikkelson, Barbara and David P. “Exam Follies.” Snopes.com-Rumor Has It. 11 April 2008. Web. 3 Mar. 2012. ‹http://www.snopes.com/medical/emergent/exams.asp›. Sims, Martha C. Stephens, Martine. "Groups." Living Folklore, Second Edition (2011): 46, 52. Print. And: Many thanks to the staff of the American Fork Hospital and Utah Valley Regional Medical Center for their contributions.