Informings as recruitment in nurses′ intrahospital telephone calls

Abstract

We have conducted conversational analysis of intrahospital telephone calls in which a recovery room nurse notifies the wards that, having concluded their treatment, a patient is ready for transfer. The article contributes to the understanding of recruitment as the outcome of interactional methods securing involvement - assistance, cooperation or contribution - in the realisation of courses of action. It shows that: a) informings conveyed by brief factual declaratives can act as a recruitment method even in the absence of any reference to a need, want or trouble; b) informing others of a state of affairs can act as a prompt for them to take responsive action under their own responsibility; c) informings as recruitment can be part of an organisational routine and instrumental in bringing forth remote professional action. Contrary to the common assumption that indirect forms of recruitment are normatively less constraining, we suggest that factual informings are actually an effective way of prompting a co-worker to act on their responsibilities. The data are audio-recordings of telephone calls made in an acute-care hospital in the French-speaking part of Switzerland.

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