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Article
Embodied Healthcare Intuition: A Taxonomy of Sensory Cues Used by Healthcare Providers
Rhetoric of Health & Medicine
  • Lillian Campbell, Marquette University
  • Elizabeth L. Angeli, Marquette University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2019
Publisher
University of Florida Press
Original Item ID
10.5744/rhm.2019.1017
Abstract

Although healthcare providers’ decision-making is informed by data and proto­cols for care, recent research suggests that individuals’ intuition—which integrates previous experiences with situational awareness and sensory knowledge—also plays a large role in directing action. Drawing on two different datasets from research on EMS providers and nurses in clinical nursing simulations, this article intro­duces a taxonomy for the various cues that trigger intuitive action and unpacks how intuition manifests at different stages of care. We argue that healthcare providers rhetorically navigate a wide range of both external and internal intuitive cues, and that external cues draw on sensory engagement with bodies, technology, and the environment as well as collaborative interpersonal exchanges. Intuition, then, is more than an unconscious ability to inform action—it is a type of intelligence that develops from experience, and from the ability to be attuned to the surrounding environment and material conditions of a workplace. By creating a taxonomy for articulating intuition’s complex and diverse cues, this article aims to provide both rhetoricians of health and medicine and healthcare providers with an impetus for recognizing and valuing its key role in patient care.

Comments

Published version. Rhetoric of Health & Medicine, Vol. 2, No. 4 (2019): 353-383. DOI. © 2019 University of Florida Press. Used with permission.

Citation Information
Lillian Campbell and Elizabeth L. Angeli. "Embodied Healthcare Intuition: A Taxonomy of Sensory Cues Used by Healthcare Providers" Rhetoric of Health & Medicine (2019) ISSN: 2573-5055
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/lilly-campbell/13/