S.TRUEMAN PhD THESIS 2016
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stability of a network depends on the ‘impossibility it creates of returning to a situation in which its [current form] was only one [of many] possible option among others’ (Callon, 1992, p. 89). Hence actor groups such as remote general nurses, psychiatrists, mental health teams, RFDS, police, ambulance officers in the actors’ arena, create stable networks based on trust and mutual respect. They do this so that each can assist in lessening the burden of delivering mental healthcare, both individually and as a collective, especially in times of difficulty. The network involving police and remote nurses is one such example (see Chapter 5). This symbiotic relationship enables one group to assist the other when difficulties arise with mental health patients. When confronted by a violent or aggressive mental health presentation, remote nurses may summon the police who will provide protection and safety for them. This guarantees for the remote nurses a greater level of survival, as a measure of being able to perform a task, for example, delivery of mental healthcare (as opposed to questions of life and death). Conversely when the police detain an offender in the community who exhibits bizarre or suicidal behaviours they may transport the offender to the primary healthcare centre. The remote nurses can assess and provide advice and guidance to the police. It might be that the remote nurses can facilitate medications for the reduction in symptoms or even admission to a healthcare facility. This reduces the stress and workload for the police and increases the survival of them being able to function at a higher level of policing. The offender is being cared for and they can go about their duties unburdened of the individual. There are no other realistic options in small remote communities, without this cooperative network, which produces mutual benefit and network stability.
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