Common Information Spaces along the illness trajectories of chronic patients

Abstract

The notion of Common Information Spaces (CIS) is extensively used as a framework to analyse cooperative work. Drawing on recent contributions to the discourse on CIS, this paper develops a perspective on how information is shared in heterogeneous contexts. We study the introduction of an electronic nursing plan in the psychogeriatric ward at the University Hospital of North Norway. The plan was expected to improve information sharing among the healthcare practitioners and in that sense contribute to their CIS. However, although the nursing plan was regularly updated, it was less used in practice than initially expected. We suggest that this can be ascribed to the temporal and evolving character of both medical information and work. Drawing on the notion of trajectories, we elaborate on these findings and develop a perspective on CIS, emphasising its situated, temporal and negotiated character.