Care work exercises a live, relational attention that readouts cannot capture

Evidence

What about Vivian, who is a lead operating room nurse in the Mount Sinai hospital system in midtown Manhattan? Her job is to keep her eyes on her patients, in a way that is fundamentally different from the surgeons (or, for that matter, the anesthesiologists). The latter are looking at a set of readouts, or are hyper-focused on a small incision. But as another hour-long drill unfolds around the semiconscious body on the table, she is the one who is responsible for the person who is working to stay calm across this uncanny and frightening situation. She checks in. She adjusts a bolster. She speaks reassuringly—and, all the while, she is also keeping track of what her colleagues need; she is attuned to the room. Hers is the live attention of actual care, the readiness of those who work to minimize suffering and predict the needs of the flesh (and the spirit). — The Friends of Attention, Attensity!, 410

Categorization

• DEFINE: The distinction between hyper-focus on readouts and the nurse’s diffuse attuned attention is a precise example of what the book means by human (as opposed to fracked) attention.
• XREF: Contrasts with the deep listening tradition of environmental/questioning attention vs. tool-mediated vigilance; echoes care-ethics literature.