Q: Elizabeth wonders, “I am a graduate student and am doing an ethnography about careers in nursing. Are there any books you can recommend? Right off the bat, can you identify any cultural themes in nursing?”

A: Hi Elizabeth,

A classic ethnographic account in the field of medicine is Boys in White by Howard Becker. It is about medical students. We have recently spent a good deal of time with nurses for a project and there are some very interesting issues around power and how nurses conceptualize their job responsibilities.

Good luck to you,

Melinda