Power, Influence, and Decision-Making: Emergency Department Healthcare Workers’ Responses to Pediatric Patients With Suicidal Ideation

Abstract

Healthcare workers are in a unique position in that they can both be oppressed and take part in the oppression. This research focuses on the duality of healthcare workers treating suicidal ideation in this space: how healthcare workers are influenced by the systems that they work within, and how they themselves influence the decision making while considering their positionality. The results are parallel with current discussion around limited resources in healthcare for mental health emergencies and reflect the influences of neoliberalism, biopolitics, and kyriarchy within medicine.