Impact on identity for those working as healthcare professionals when taking on the role of carer

Messenger, Julie (2024). Impact on identity for those working as healthcare professionals when taking on the role of carer. In: jones, Kerry and Horne, Joanna eds. Understanding the Grief and Loss Experiences of Carers. Routledge Key Themes in Health and Safety. London: Routledge, pp. 15–26.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003435365-2

Abstract

The experiences of participating as informal carers is well defined. However, for those who work as health and social care practitioners, there is often conflict or challenges between the social norms or expectations from family or others and those values developed from practice. Considering two significant experiences that required me to take on caring responsibility while retaining my identity as a nurse practitioner, I have used a framework with five pillars – holding privileged information, experiencing dilemmas as a consequence of dual identity, taking on the role of protector, living with family expectations and being impacted by the experience to reflect on and share my personal experiences. Recognising my experiences as deeply personal, I share with readers the conflicts experienced when trying to maintain balance between being a health professional as well as a wife and mother. On reflection, I see that I often hid behind my role as a health professional and somewhat neglected my role as a wife. This is something that I still struggle with, despite a number of years passing since my husband’s death. Perhaps through sharing my story, others can be mindful of the need to retain multi-faceted identities if faced with similar circumstances.

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