Devices & Desires: Gender, Technology, and American Nursing

Studies in Social Medicine

by Margarete Sandelowski

Nursing and technology have been inexorably linked since the beginnings of trained nursing in the United States in the late nineteenth century. Whether or not they thought of the devices they used as technology, nurses have necessarily used a variety of tools, instruments, and machines--from thermometers to cardiac monitors--to appraise, treat, and comfort patients. Tracing the relationship between nursing and technology from the 1870s to the present, Margarete Sandelowski argues that technology has helped shape and intensify persistent dilemmas in nursing and that it has both advanced and impeded the development of the profession.

Sandelowski examines key moments in the history of nursing that dramatize the ironies of the nursing-technology relationship. She demonstrates that nurses both embraced and rejected technology in their pursuit of cultural visibility and professional autonomy--with varying amounts of success.

As one of the domains of female work historically most subject to sex segregation, Sandelowski notes, nursing provides an ideal site in which to examine the interplay of technology and gender.

295 pages, Hardcover

First published November 27, 2000

Reviews

[Micah Rojo · Rating 4 out of 5]

pretty good. i think the author was obsessed with doctors to a degree that limited her analysis. the author makes no mention of the hospital ownership group and how that dictates the nurses use of technology. the physician is still the nurse’s political adversary but she has bigger and greater enemies now

[Mtab Habib · Rating 3 out of 5]

Realistically I’d give this a 3.75 (when will that feature become available idk). Even though I was reading this for class I found it to be a super interesting read, like even though it could get jargony/theoretical in the second chapter, I still wanted to keep reading. Would recommend if you have any interest in the history of Nursing, gender and health, STS, ‘knowledge-making’, history of science, etc. Super grateful to be taking classes that give me access to topics I’ve never learned about, will miss this part of college a lot.

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting story that really focuses on the sociological principles at play within the medical field, by focusing on nursing. It ties together the role of the female nurse, which perpetuates gender, and the role of technological devices that contribute to the nursing field.

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sandelowski presents a very thorough examination of the relationship between nursing and technology over recent history. In many ways the discussion about nursing's role in healthcare and the struggle for respect and validation was the most thought provoking aspect of the book. I especially enjoyed the chapter on electronic fetal monitoring where she so eloquently highlights some of the challenges of this technology in caring for laboring women. I took Sandelowski's summer institute at UNC this past June and she is as brilliant in person as on the written page.