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This book examines the interactional practices of nurse practitioners (NPs) and the delivery of health care in the US. The author takes a discourse analytic approach, examining the linguistic resources that NPs employ in their interactions with patients. These linguistic features are connected to the concept of professional competency with specific focus on the enactment of the patient-centered approach. Analytic focus is placed on how NPs address organizational responsibilities during medical visits with patients, the form and function of patient education, the use of indirect speech, and the role that small talk plays in health care encounters. The book explores the understudied professional field of nurse practitioners and examines their linguistic practices with an eye on crossing disciplinary boundaries, integrating research from linguistics, discourse analysis and health communication. It will appeal to those interested in medical discourse analysis and health communication, as well as applied linguistics scholars.

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Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Frontstage/Backstage: Attending to Organizational Responsibilities.- Chapter 3: Need to Know: Patient Education and Epistemic Responsibility.- Chapter 4: Treading Lightly: Indirect Speech in Medical Directives.- Chapter 5: Caring as Competent: Small Talk in Medical Visits.- Chapter 6: Conclusion.

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"This is a unique book that focuses on the language and interactional practices of nurse practitioners in the current U.S. healthcare setting. This novel resource intends to move forward the area of linguistic research that to date has focused primarily on physician-patient communications." (Kathleen M. Woodruff, Doody´s Book Reviews, June 28, 2019)

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Staci Defibaugh is an Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics in the English Department at Old Dominion University, USA. Her research examines the interactional practices of nurse practitioner-patient visits, the role of neoliberalism in healthcare in the US, and the positioning of patients as being responsible for their health.

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