Hedges in health discourse: Insights from the communication of male nurses in a hospital in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Effective communication is an important aspect of quality healthcare delivery, with nurses generally playing a central role communicating between patients, families and medical professionals. Hedging is among the communicative strategies that nurses use to manage interactions in healthcare settings, and yet, there is a lack of research on its use in healthcare communication in the Zimbabwean context. This is especially so in the context of male nurses, who are typically working in traditionally feminised profession and who are Shona speakers. This paper, therefore, aims to (1) examine Shona hedge forms used by Shona-speaking male nurses at a hospital in Zimbabwe in occupational discourse, and (2) To explore their functions within the communicative context of nursing. Three male nurses were purposively selected. Data were audio-recorded over one month, three days a week, totalling 12 recordings per nurse, lasting 5 to 30 minutes each. Discourse analysis was used to identify hedge forms and functions, supplemented by interviews to clarify functions while the Community of Practice framework guided the analysis. The findings indicate that hedges are diverse in Shona male nurses’ discourse. They can be inflectional, lexical, phrasal and also sentential, prominent among these are the inflectional forms. Hedges manifest as modal verbs, cognition verbs, inclusive pronouns, if- clauses, tag questions, politeness markers as well as enclitics. Findings also reveal that hedges are multi-functional and context-dependent. The findings reveal that hedges serve various functions, including expressing uncertainty, showing non-commitment to a proposition, downplaying doubt, and mitigating statements. They are also used to soften orders, commands, directives, instructions, and claims. Additionally, hedges help maintain a collaborative atmosphere, promote solidarity, and convey politeness. These findings have important implications for nursing communication training, the development of communication skills, and the formulation of hospital language policies.