‘The Dream Job’: Humanitarian nursing with Médecins Sans Frontièr
Mon, 22 Dec 2014 11:53:00 GMT
On Wednesday 10 December 2014, the second lecture in the Institute for Research in Citizenship and Applied Human Sciences public lecture series took place. The lecture which was entitled: “’The Dream Job’: Humanitarian nursing with Médecins Sans Frontières”, was delivered by Professor Janet Hargreaves and explored the motivations and experiences of humanitarian nurses and their place, within Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)/Doctors Without Borders, on a world stage.
Prior to the lecture guests were welcomed into a seasonal and celebratory themed pre-lecture reception that included mince pies and mulled wine, as well as a beautiful rendition of Christmas Carols by the University Staff Choir.
The lecture was well attended with around 60 guests, including members of the general public, staff, students, family, friends and specially invited guests from the healthcare profession.
Janet was introduced to the audience by the Dean of the School of Human and Health Sciences, Professor John Playle who spoke briefly about how Professor Janet Hargreaves’ career began. In keeping with the historical theme, Professor John Playle used a few family photographs to illustrate. This drew some laughter from the audience, particularly when he explained how, thanks to help provided by Janet’s husband; he had managed to gain a personal, photographic insight into her early life and career development.
Janet began by reflecting on her introduction and explaining how she became interested in nursing research. The focus of the talk was humanitarian nursing and drew upon the experiences of nurses who had completed missions with MSF. Janet drew upon the oral history accounts provided by the seven participants’ as a way of documenting their lives through their own eyes.
Using these accounts and playing short audio clips to illustrate, Janet described why Dreams and Romance were themes that emerged as intrinsic aspects of doing humanitarian work, with MSF, across the globe. The audience was reminded that often; where there are dreams, there may be nightmares and that this was no different for the participants in her research. Their nightmares included the provision of humanitarian care in situations that were often dangerous.
MSF was created on the “belief that all people have the right to medical care regardless of gender, race, religion, creed or political affiliation, and that the needs of these people outweigh respect for national boundaries. Further information about the work of Medecins Sans Frontieres is available on their website.
Further information about the research by Professor Janet Hargreaves and Dr Berenice Golding is available in the paper ‘Not for God Queen of Country’, which was recently published in The Bulletin of The UK Association for The History of Nursing, Volume 3, pp: 33-44 in November 2014. Further information can be found online.
Additional information relating to Professor Janet Hargreaves’ background, publications and research outputs is available on her staff profile.
This year’s lecture series is supporting Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice, Huddersfield. This small-scale fundraising initiative is helping to support the excellent work they do supporting children and their families with life-shortening conditions. On the night a further £57.00 was raised, thanks to the kind donations from those who attended. The fundraising total will be revealed at the end of the lecture series.
The public lecture series continues in the New Year with Professor Barry Percy-Smith, Director of the Centre for Applied Childhood and Family Research (CACFS), who will deliver his inaugural professorial lecture entitled “Children’s Participation in Decision Making: Connecting Systems and Lifeworlds” on Tuesday 17 February. Further information relating to Professor Barry Percy-Smith’s background, publications and research outputs is available in his staff profile.
For more information or to reserve your free place, please visit eventbrite.
