Even Superman Cries (Part 4): Conclusion to Emotions in Medicine

Jordan Babando // Imagine a friend of yours comes to you for relationship advice. The issue that is presented to you involves your friend’s significant other telling them they are not allowed to express emotions. Your friend is made to feel like any noticeable emotion would make their partner and anyone else around them feel…

Even Superman Cries (Part 3): Encountering Death in the Hospital

“All fields have occupational hazards, and for medicine, sadness is certainly one of them… What matters is how sadness is navigated, something that is influenced by both the individual personality of the doctor and the surrounding environment.” (Ofri, 2013: 98) On my way to the hospital where I conduct my research, I was walking through…

Even Superman Cries (Part 1): Emotion Work in Medical Practice

Jordan Babando “In healthcare you have to detach and shut down emotionally to protect yourself. Until one day you become a stone. It is in that moment that you need to leave before you can no longer find yourself again.”  ~ Hospital Nurse (Personal ethnographic notes, 2017) A cloudy overcast and bleak rain set the…