Abstract

My troubled informant was born twice: first as a naughty little boy, then as a kind 20-something girl. And she is now a flawless-looking nurse. Research addressing ethical issues that involve transgender personnel is scarce. Arising from a large ethnographic study in a clinical setting in Europe, this article reports on a case in which patient and nurse enter a complicated dynamic of aggression. The patient assaulted the nurse. But the nurse, in a reflex reaction, hit back at the patient. The analysis does not absolve her from the guilt. However, it suggests that the case may offer important nuances that deserve especial consideration when discussing this new topical arena. Sociological claims of emotional alienation in health organisations have, in fact, significance in this discussion. Moreover, the legal aftermaths may not be as straightforward as they may seem. The article proposes that the topic merits further problematisation, and indeed a specific approach to workplace violence more generally.