Sonographers' management of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSD): an ideological dilemma?

Miller, Paul K. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5611-1354 , Bolton, Gareth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5453-4257 and Booth, Lisa ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7957-6501 (2019) Sonographers' management of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSD): an ideological dilemma? In: United Kingdom Imaging and Oncology Congress (UKIO), 10-12 June 2019, ACC, Liverpool, UK. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Background: Contradictions within common sense and the governing ideologies of cultures and institutions are typically analysed as points of practical paralysis. Although rarely acknowledged in the imaging sciences, the work of Billig et al. (1988) highlights how dilemmas within ideology can also have enabling impacts on everyday thought; they can assist individuals in reasoning constructively about themselves and their social environments. The research reported in this paper explores the manners in which practicing sonographers with work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSD) manage their own professional lives. It draws particular attention to how the ideological dilemmas evident, while sometimes constrictive, can also reinforce the participants' positive self-identification.

Method: Extended semi-structured interviews with N=9 experienced sonographers working in the UK were conducted and provisionally analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Miller, Booth and Spacey, 2017). Core thematic areas that emphasised ideological contradictions were then further examined to highlight how participants specifically made sense of them.

Results: The key ideological tensions evident in the findings pertained to those between individuality and collectivity, and freedom and necessity. Evidence indicated that the participants often freely chose to work while injured, despite being aware of the prospective personal costs. In doing so, they underscored their own agency as professionals, and also their own commitment to a broader altruistic model that reinforced their identities as good healthcare professionals.

Conclusions: Ideological dilemmas provide a useful analytic framework for understanding some of the everyday aspects of working with injury in ultrasound. Further exploration of the conceptual facility thereof is recommended.

Billig, M., Condor, S., Edwards, D., Gane, M., Middleton, D. and Radley, A. (1988) Ideological dilemmas: a social psychology of everyday thinking. London: Sage. Miller, P.K., Booth, L. and Spacey, A. (2017) 'Dementia and clinical interaction in frontline radiography: Mapping the practical experiences of junior clinicians in the UK', Dementia. doi: 10.1177/1471301217700742

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Poster)
Departments:	Institute of Health > Medical Sciences Social Issues in Medical Imaging (SIMI)
Additional Information:	Poster P020.
Depositing User:	Anna Lupton
Date Deposited:	02 Jul 2019 09:41
Last Modified:	13 Jan 2024 09:01
URI:	https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/4958

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