Sociological Perspectives In Nursing

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for Introduction: “Discuss why a sociological perspective is important for nurses/midwives to adopt in their nursing/midwifery practice.” What is the relevance in studying sociology and how can one make use of their knowledge in clinical practice? Sociology outlines how our society developed, is structured and how it functions. It is the study of human society and the behaviour of us in it. (Crossman, 2017) I think it is of utmost importance that nurses/midwives have a profound knowledge of sociology as we and our patients are all members in our society and as Fahrenwald et al. (2005) stated we work within a profession of caring and caring involves connecting with and showing empathy for people. We, as professionals, deal with humans on a therapeutic …show more content…

Stigmatizing involves how society labels or views something, usually provoking negative attitudes towards said thing. It is relevant for nurses/midwives to have a great understanding of stigmatization because in today’s society, stigma can have a very negative impact on many aspects of life such as mental health, sexually transmitted diseases and drug users. People associated with these aspects are some of the most vulnerable members of society and as nurses/midwives it is our job to protect these people from negativity and isolation. Such stigma often results in people disregarding treatment due to fear of embarrassment or being …show more content…

There are a number of health inequalities associated with gender and it is necessary of us to be aware of these. Gender refers to the socially constructed traits of men and woman. It defines the roles and norms of men and women in society. (World Health Organisation, 2018) Men and women are still individual human beings and it is important for us to recognise that everyone is different and do not always fall under these categories. There are many different issues associated with men and women’s health. One being how men are portrayed as strong and emotionless in society and how they cannot show their feelings. However, it is well known that men are more likely to die from suicide and in a study conducted by Oliffe et al. (2016) among men who suffered from depression/suicidal tendencies, the majority of them expressed very stigmatizing attitudes towards themselves about being depressed mentioning how they feel like burdens on people. In that same study it was noted that how we view men and their mental health is greatly inhibiting help-seeking, reduces men going after treatment and makes them reluctant to talk to friends or family. Some even said they would be embarrassed to ever seek help for depression. It is vital for us as nurses/midwives to have a sociological understanding of gender and gender norms for us to put a stop to men disregarding