S.TRUEMAN PhD THESIS 2016

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Table 8.1b Table of Actors Who Have Input into the ‘System’, 100 Years Ago

Human actors Mental health patient, remote nurses, matron, psychiatrist, mental health nurses, ambulance officers, police officers, pilot, first officer pilot, aviation nurse, flight controller, mental health unit personnel, emergency department personal, mental health nurse, ambulance radio operator, RFDS bookings personnel, registrar, mental health unit team leader/nurse unit manager, airport taxing personnel … Non-human actors Policies, procedures, belief systems, computers, computer software, [electricity], telephones, video-conferencing facilities, satellite communicability, cables, ambulance, police car, beds, [wards], doors and locks, [rooms], corridors, airplane, medications, [roads], airports, run ways, [fuel], radios, radio channels, email accounts, [linen], language, [confidence], trust, security, uniforms, [lights], [team work], goal(s), understanding, [pens], [paper], [tables], [chairs], [medical equipment], time, [rules], safety equipment, [coordination], charts, energy, commitment, operating trolley table, personal hygiene items, radio waves, computer programmers, [glass], air conditioning … A remote nurse 100 years ago delivering mental healthcare did not have computers, emails, planes, mobile phones and satellites, which today are completely enmeshed and taken for granted as part of contemporary actions (Bijker, Hughes & Pinch, 1987). Today, remote generalist nurses take these objects, actors and networks for granted as they have been embedded in the fabric of the remote nurse’s social world, lexicon and modes of action. While the process of embedding may have been insidious, it nevertheless has created the most dense, complex and widest breadth (reach) of networks ever available in delivering mental healthcare. Figure 8.5 displays the exponential growth in the advancement of technology over the last 120 years. These advancements have culminated in the networks, which remote nurses are present in when delivering mental healthcare.