S.TRUEMAN PhD THESIS 2016

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2002). Most related articles refer to nurses in rural (as opposed to remote) locations (Reed & Fitzgerald, 2005; Hegney et al., 2002). The researcher has still referenced such articles, as there are many similarities between the issues facing rural and remote nurses, though distinctions were made where necessary. In the literature, only one study has utilised a social worlds analysis, but that study investigated rural nurses (Mills et al., 2007). Accordingly, when referencing, the researcher became conscious of a gap in the literature concerning the study’s aim. 9.2 Remote Nurses as Obligatory Passage Points The researcher did not encounter any study making use of the concept of the obligatory passage point (Latour, 1988; Law & Callon, 1988) in relation to remote Australian general nurses delivering mental healthcare. The concept has been used in a number of contexts (dissimilar, yet relevant, to the present case) without losing its meaning. For example, the concept has been used in relation to the establishment of a United Kingdom (UK) stem cell bank, which is the sole holder of human tissue within the UK. Mitchell and Waldby (2006) referred to this bank as the obligatory passage point for all clinicians and researchers accessing embryonic stem cells in the UK; there is no alternative. Another example is a compulsory ‘Health Network’ database that clinicians or health services must access and refer to when improving quality and continuity of care; the data in the network is indispensable (Purcarea, 2008). A smaller scale example is the removal of face-to-face banking in small communities, forcing the residents to use an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) to access their accounts; since no other means of banking exists (Nicholls, 2013), the ATM has become the (non-human) obligatory passage point.