Title: How and why emotions matter in interprofessional healthcare

Authors: Ann Dadich; Rebecca E. Olson

Addresses: School of Business, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith NSW 2751 Australia ' School of Social Science, University of Queensland, Australia

Abstract: Institutional theory draws attention to organisational rules-of-thumb that guide individual action and legitimacy - this includes the use of emotion. Within medicine, emotion is largely underemphasised. The introduction of interprofessional practice (IPP) poses an under-explored potential challenge to these rules-of-thumb. Drawing on Foucault, this article examines: 1) the emotional discourse in tweets from member-based organisations for healthcare practitioners; 2) themes in interviews and a focus group with practitioners-in-training. While the tweets largely illustrated the illegitimacy of emotion within healthcare, the practitioners-in-training indicated the importance of emotions and emotion work to teamwork. These findings suggest a 'cultural clash' and demonstrate that emotions matter in IPP.

Keywords: emotion; interprofessional; healthcare; knowledge translation; twitter; social media.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWOE.2017.083799

International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion, 2017 Vol.8 No.1, pp.59 - 79

Received: 13 Jan 2016
Accepted: 15 Dec 2016

Published online: 22 Apr 2017 *

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