DEFINE TOPIC Ethnography has been around as a type of research qualitative for over 100 years.

Ethnography is defined as a branch of anthropology focusing on the scientific description of individual cultures. (Hodgson, 2000) This research method is designed to be conducted with the researcher looking from the subjects point of view. (Hodgson, 2000) The anthropologist goes into the field (the group of people or area he or she intends to study) and talks to the informants, participates in their various activities, or simply becomes immersed into the culture. Rather then study people ethnography is learning from people. (Hodgson, 2000) RELEVENCE TO NURSING Ethnography in healthcare is valuable for a number of purposes. Most notable is exploring the culture of illness. That is how people of a given culture respond to illness both medically and socially (Hodgson, 2000). True understanding of culture is needed before to fully integrate nursing practice. (Mulhall, 1996). There are a number of examples of ethnographical studies. These include: Record keeping and routine practice (ALLEN, 1998), A journey to becoming: the student nurse in transition (HOLLAND, 1999), Anthropology and germ theory (MACQUEEN, 1995), Measuring care: the case of district nursing (RAPPORT & MAGGS, 1997). Privacy or help? The use of curtain positioning strategies within the maternity ward environment as a means of achieving and maintaining privacy, or as a form of signalling to peers and professionals in an attempt to seek information or support (BURDEN, 1998). These ethnographical studies have all illustrated common practices in nursing including: Accurate record keeping (ALLEN, 1998), the transition from student to Registered (HOLLAND, 1999), Exposing ritualistic practice (MACQUEEN, 1995), Nurses in community care (RAPPORT & MAGGS, 1997), Curtain positioning (BURDEN, 1998).. The area of HIV has also been quite interesting in terms of ethnographical study. Ethnographical studies have revealed that HIV effects developed and developing countries in very different ways. Ethnography has elicited valuable data, and includes: the personal experience of AIDS, as expressed in narrative (HASSIN, 1994), risk assessment (DOWNE, 1997; GROVE, KELLY et al., 1997), the integration of AIDS into existing explanatory models of illness (FARMER, 1994) the feeling of alienation amongst people with HIV (SOBO, 1997). To conclude Ethnography is a Qualitative method of research that has been in active use for hundreds of years. Ethnography is a branch of anthropology where the anthropologist immerses themselves into the culture of the subjects. In nursing and healthcare ethnography is a valuable tool to study the cultural aspects of illness and how

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a disease affects a particular cultural group. If the nurse can understand how the disease affects the patients culture the nurse can provide better care. References Allen, D. (1998). Record-keeping and routine nursing practice: the view from the wards. Journal Of Advanced Nursing, 27(6), 1223--1230. Burden, B. (1998). Privacy or help? The use of curtain positioning strategies within the maternity ward environment as a means of achieving and maintaining privacy, or as a form of signalling to peers and professionals in an attempt to seek information or support. Journal Of Advanced Nursing, 27(1), 15--23. Downe, P. (1997). Constructing a complex of contagion: the perceptions of AIDS among working prostitutes in Costa Rica. Social Science \& Medicine, 44(10), 1575--1583. Farmer, P. (1994). AIDS-talk and the constitution of cultural models. Social Science \& Medicine, 38(6), 801--809. Grove, K., Kelly, D., & Liu, J. (1997). BUT NICE GIRLS DON'T GET IT Women, Symbolic Capital, and the Social Construction of AIDS. Journal Of Contemporary Ethnography, 26(3), 317--337. Hassin, J. (1994). Living a responsible life: the impact of AIDS on the social identity of intravenous drug users. Social Science And Medicine, 39(3), 391-400. Hodgson, I. (2000). Ethnography and health care: Focus on nursing, 1(1). Holl,. (1999). A journey to becoming: the student nurse in transition. Journal Of Advanced Nursing, 29(1), 229--236. Macqueen, S. (1995). Anthropology and germ theory. Journal Of Hospital Infection, 30, 116--126. Mulhall, A. (1996). Anthropology, nursing and midwifery: a natural alliance?. International Journal Of Nursing Studies, 33(6), 629--637. Rapport, F., & Maggs, P. (1997). Measuring care: the case of district nursing. Journal Of Advanced Nursing, 25(4), 673--680. Sobo, E. (1997). Self-disclosure and self-construction among HIV-positive people: The rhetorical uses of stereotypes and sex. Anthropology \& Medicine, 4(1), 67--87.

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