Observing Organisations: Anxiety, Defence and Culture in Health Care

In order to prevent or solve problems within organisations, one needs not only to address the conscious elements, but also to understand its unconscious aspects. Observing Organisations presents a unique approach derived from direct participant observation of small units within institutions, all in the health and social services sector. A range of contributors bring together the results of their own observational projects - in settings as diverse as a mental hospital canteen, an acute psychiatric admission ward and a palliative care unit - to show how they were able to come to a psychoanalytically informed understanding of the cultures that arise within healthcare organisations, and how this understanding can be used to overcome difficulties that arise.Observing Organisations will help all healthcare workers, teachers and managers better understand the functioning and difficulties of their organisations and therefore help in the management and practice of their work.