Sociology for Nurses

About the Editors

Elaine Denny is professor of health sociology at Birmingham City University. Her research interests focus around women as recipients and providers of health care, in particular reproductive health, and she has published work on women’s experience of IVF, the experience of endometriosis, and the occupation of nursing. Her current research is a Research for Patient Benefit-funded collaborative study on endometriosis and cultural diversity aimed at improving services for minority ethnic women.

Sarah Earle is senior lecturer in the Faculty of Health & Social Care at the Open University. Her research interests include women’s reproductive health, the sociology of sexuality and the role of sociology within health care education and practice. She has published widely in these areas.

About the Contributors

Geraldine Brown is a research fellow in the Applied Research Centre in Sustainable Regeneration, Coventry University. She has extensive experience of undertaking research for the voluntary, community and public sectors. Her interests include the working relationships between partners in health provision and the relationship between the experience of social exclusion and institutional attempts at inclusion across a range of social policy areas. A key aim of her work is to promote the voices of those who tend to be marginalized.

Pat Chambers is a senior lecturer in the School of Public Policy and Professional Practice and director of postgraduate research in the Research Institute of Life Course Studies, both at Keele University. Her research interests are located within social gerontology, in particular family relationships in later life and the intersection of critical gerontology and social work with older people.

David Cox is emeritus professor, Faculty of Health, at Birmingham City University. Since 2002 he has been chair of South Birmingham Primary Care Trust. He teaches and has written about the sociology of policy implementation and reorganization in childcare and the NHS.

Lorraine Culley is professor of social science and health and associate director of the Mary Seacole Research Centre in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at De Montfort University, Leicester. A sociologist by background, Lorraine has published widely in the social sciences in the areas of education, gender and ethnicity. She is currently researching several aspects of cultural diversity and health, including work on infertility and reproductive technologies, endometriosis and the educational implications of sickle cell.

Simon Dyson is professor of applied sociology and director of the Unit for the Social Study of Thalassaemia and Sickle Cell at De Montfort University, Leicester. He is the author of Ethnicity and Screening for Sickle Cell (Elsevier, 2005) and, with Brian Brown, of Social Theory and Applied Health Research (Open University Press, 2006). He has worked with local and national sickle cell support groups for over twenty years and is an advisor to the Sickle Cell Society.

Mike Filby was formerly associate dean and professor in the Faculty of Health at Birmingham City University, where his main teaching and research interests were in the sociology of work and organizations. He had a particular interest in the sociology of health work and undertook research into the organization of ancillary work, teamwork in primary care and inter-professional relationships in community nursing. Since retiring from higher education, he has been undertaking research and policy analysis for a voluntary sector organization.

Barbara Green is a senior lecturer at Birmingham City University with a first degree in sociology with history and a masters degree in nursing. The theme of her research dissertation was the relationship between sociology and nursing. Her clinical background is as a registered nurse in acute medicine, having worked as a ward sister in this speciality for eight years. She currently teaches sociology to pre-registration student nurses.

Alistair Hewison is senior lecturer in the School of Health and Population Sciences at the University of Birmingham. His research and teaching interests centre on management and policy in health care. Recent work includes an evaluation of the management of end-of-life care in care homes and an examination of new models of care delivery in an acute trust. He is associate editor of the Journal of Nursing Management and is a regular contributor to scholarly journals and books.

Gayle Letherby is professor of sociology and school research coordinator at the School of Law and Social Science, University of Plymouth. Her scholarly interests include reproductive and non-parental identity and experience; and feminist research and epistemology. Among recent relevant publications are, with Paul Bywaters, Extending Social Research: Application, Implementation and Presentation (Open University Press, 2007); with Jennifer Marchbank, An Introduction to Gender: Social Science Perspectives (Pearson, 2007); and, with Sarah Earle (eds), The Sociology of Health Care: A Reader for Health Professionals (Palgrave, 2008).

Douglas McCarrick is head of social and community studies at Coventry University. He has a background in local politics, where he has chaired housing and urban renewal committees and served as a scrutineer of health services. He has also been active in community work and welfare campaigns and supported the movement Defend Council Housing. He has led a number of voluntary organizations, including a local housing association.

Terry O’Donnell is senior lecturer at Leeds Metropolitan University. Her main interests are in the sociology of the physically active and sporting body and the sociology of public health. She is researching aspects of young women’s embodiment in relation to clothing choices and is collaboratively exploring the dominance of body image discourses in the social construction of anorexia nervosa.

Keith Sharp is dean of the Faculty of Education, Humanities and Sciences at the University of Gloucestershire. He is interested in the sociology of sexuality and social theory and is co-author of Sociology in Focus (1995) and Psychology in Focus (Causeway Press, 2002) and, with Sarah Earle, of Sex in Cyberspace (Ashgate, 2007).

Philip Shelton is senior lecturer in health sociology and policy lecturer at Birmingham City University. He also works as an associate lecturer at the Open University. His current interests focus on the application of sociological knowledge to nursing practice and student approaches to learning on placement.

Nick Watson is professor of disability studies and director of Strathclyde Centre for Disability Research at the University of Glasgow. He has published widely on a range of disability issues, including disabled childhoods, disability and identity, disability and technology and disability theory. He is editor of a four-volume series entitled Disability: Major Themes in Health and Social Welfare, published by Routledge in 2007.

Corinne Wilson is a senior sociology lecturer at Coventry University. She teaches on a number of modules which explore the relationship between gender, the family and health. Her research interests include teenage pregnancy, lone motherhood, feminist methodology and epistemology. Since 2001 she has been involved in a number of qualitative research projects around the experiences of young pregnant women and young parents.