The article extends the discussion on the challenges in gaining access to the field in medical ethnographic research, focusing on long-term care (LTC) facilities. Medical institutions have been documented to be difficult sites to access. The reference, however, is to the recruitment of patients as informants. The challenges of recruiting practitioners as informants have not been investigated at all. The article presents the key issues that emerged in the process of gaining social access at the sites of two LTC facilities as part of a study on care workers’ identities. The main obstacles encountered during the fieldwork were organizational constraints and negotiating control over the process of recruiting the lower occupational tier of care workers with gatekeepers. The article presents the coping strategies implemented to overcome the ethical and methodological obstacles: continually reassessing the consent and cooperation of participants and developing a rapport with nurse’s aides during interviews.

本文扩展了关于进入医学民族志研究领域的挑战的讨论，重点是长期护理 (LTC) 设施。据记载，医疗机构是难以进入的场所。然而，这里指的是招募患者作为线人。根本没有调查招募从业者作为线人的挑战。作为护理人员身份研究的一部分，本文介绍了在两个 LTC 设施场所获得社会准入的过程中出现的关键问题。实地考察期间遇到的主要障碍是组织限制和谈判控制招聘具有看门人的较低职业级别的护理人员的过程。