8 - The Computerization of Care Work

Summary

Nursing work offers a unique lens through which we can examine women’s work in relation to technology. The chapter follows a path from early nursing information systems to modern decision-support systems, to care robots. These technologies stimulate a debate about care and its nature. They also raise design-related issues concerning the limits of automation with respect to standardization and modelling. While standardization is an essential part of nursing documentation systems, nursing protocols, and care plans, the question is how to make space for judgment based on nurses’ experience and intuition. Another main concern with regard to nursing information systems is that they integrate a managerial logic into care work. The chapter also addresses the ethical discourse on robotics – the question of whether or not activities performed by a care robot can and should be considered ‘genuine’ caretaking. It raises fundamental questions about power, autonomy, and control in relation to robotics and the automation of care, foregrounding power issues and the need to address them through a focus on intersectionality.