Caring while protecting oneself: the management of tensions in work activity in nuclear medicine

Abstract

The research focuses on the tensions inherent in working in the nuclear medicine sector. Indeed, nuclear medicine health professionals are required to care for the patient while protecting themselves from exposure to “low doses” of radioactivity. Work in nuclear medicine then amounts to jointly managing two heterogeneous and potentially contradictory logics, namely patient care and self-protection. Nuclear medicine is analysed as a hybrid organization in which the logic of care and radiation protection coexist. The phenomenon of hybridization is a source of tensions that requires the development of specific responses. Based on a qualitative study in nuclear medicine, the research analyses both the forms of tensions and the types of responses to tensions in work practices. In particular, the results suggest that responses to tensions differ according to occupational groups and work situations. In this way, the research contributes to the management of tensions within hybrid organizations.