The nature of feeding completely dependent persons: A meta-ethnography

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Feeding completely dependent persons is a common activity in many health care settings; however, it has received relatively little attention by researchers. Recently, there has been a call for nurses to revisit some of the so-called “basic” tasks that have been eliminated from nurses’ responsibilities and relegated to non-professional staff. This article details an analysis of the findings of ten published qualitative research reports about feeding completely dependent persons who are elderly. Drawing on procedures of meta-ethnography described by Noblit and Hare (1988), Meta-Ethnography: Synthesizing qualitative studies Newbury Park: Sage Publications) and later by Paterson, Thorne, Canam, and Jillings (2001), Meta-study of qualitative health research. A practical guide to meta-analysis and meta-synthesis Thousand Oaks: CA Sage Publications), the authors identify two central themes within the primary research; feeding as task and feeding as relationship. Based on the meta-ethnographic findings, two areas for future research are suggested; exploring structural and institutional influences on the feeding practices of health care providers and exploring how nurses mediate the tension between the relationship and task perspective of feeding completely dependent persons.