When nursing and management sciences meet: the revalorization of emotion and compassion-related factors in the United Kingdom as an example of the impact of research on research and practices

Abstract

In a context of important transformations in healthcare (health product innovations, telemedicine, Big Data, etc.) management science – and more specifically healthcare and healthcare organizations management – is faced with the necessity of producing research likely to affect practices and public policy. Even though scientific production in the field of healthcare management is prolific, the double issue of its diffusion and of the manner to guarantee its impact remains. Indeed, if proximity to healthcare organizations appears a means to lead to research able to influence management practices, or even public policy, there is a diffusion problem in this field.
As well as in management science, health organizations are (in)directly the subject of research in nursing science, a discipline which studies nurses or nursing assistants (in particular in English-speaking countries). The object of this article is thus to shed light on the question of the impact of research thanks to a specific case taken from nursing science with the aim of drawing conclusions for management science, particularly concerning healthcare organizations.
To achieve this goal, we reflect on the internal and external impact of nursing science research on emotional labor (the management of one’s own emotions and those of the patient) and on the emotional, compassionate and relational components of nursing work in British hospitals. In order to do so, we analyze the literature on the subject and examine professional, institutional and governmental documentation. Our results highlight three specificities: (a) the importance of nursing as a distinct academic field, (b) the use of policy papers and (c) the role of think tanks.