Nutrire: Nurture, Nursing a Material Culture Analysis of Invalid/Infant Feeders and the Aesthetics and Caring of Nursing

This dissertation analyzes a nursing artifact: the infant/invalid feeder. A material
culture analysis, developed by the author, is utilized for the in depth study of 12 feeders.
This work assumes that Caring is the core value of what constitutes nursing and nursing
practice. The expression of the aesthetics of nursing through the act of feeding and use of
infant/invalid feeders, aesthetic knowing and expression of that knowing, links caring and
caring presence.
The act of feeding another, whether sick or infant has been the domestic sphere of
women throughout history and is also considered one of the most important duties of the
nurse. For centuries women have provided nourishment to others. Much of this has been
accomplished through the use of utensils designed specifically for the purpose of feeding
those too ill or young to independently do so themselves. Material culture study, a method of examining artifacts and the cultural messages
that they contain is employed as the methodology for research. A detailed investigation
of the nursing literature reveals that there have been no material culture studies of
nursing's artifacts to date. In this dissertation the author designed and utilized her own
model for the analysis of 12 invalid feeders.
The material culture analysis of the twelve feeders leads to a greater
understanding of the history and evolution of nursing practice in the United States.
Significance and recognition of feeders in England and their continued use versus their
obscurity and unfamiliarity in the United States serves an example of the changes and
differences that have occurred within the social context of the culture as a whole and
nursing culture in particular.
Feeding of patients with feeders by nurses serves as an example of the
complexities of human caring and the aesthetic practice of nursing. Nurses can gain from
the material culture studies of nursing artifacts, paying greater attention to the ways that
make us human and humane. This work has related the caring and the aesthetic of
nursing practice to the everyday act of feeding and challenges nurses to continue to find
ways to demonstrate nurturing and caring to those we have the privilege to nurse.