Discourse analysis of newspaper coverage of the 2001/2002 Canterbury, New Zealand mental health nurses' strike

Abstract

In late 2001 Canterbury, New Zealand mental health nurses undertook a variety of strike actions after stalled industrial negotiations with the local district health board. One response to these actions was the temporary reduction of many of the regions metal health services. Unsurprisingly, the print media responded by publicizing the crisis in mental health services on an almost daily basis. This paper reports on subsequent research into these print media representations of the industrial disputes, identifying themes of juxtaposed but largely deprecatory images of both mental health nursing and of consumers of services. Some professional nursing voices were given print space during the strike; however, these were largely incorporated into existing discourses rather than offering a nursing viewpoint on the strike. We, therefore, conclude by suggesting organizational efforts to focus on ways of ensuring that mental health nurses are seen as a legitimate authority by the media.