A narrative inquiry of storytelling: a learning strategy for nursing students to reflect on their interactions with patients

ABSTRACT

Arts-based learning in the context of clinical placement is rarely discussed in the literature, yet storytelling is potentially a valuable tool for students to reflect on the multi-dimensional experience. Clandinin and Connolly’s approach to narrative inquiry provided the methodology to explore students’ experiences of storytelling as a learning strategy. Narrative inquiry is a relationship-based methodology, used to study the nature of people’s experience. The approach is like that of clinical facilitators who work collaboratively with students to understand and provide mentorship through placement experiences. Creative writing and storytelling sessions with students were conducted throughout placement. Data included creative writing, oral stories, and researcher journal entries, collected over six placement blocks with 26 nursing students. Analysis identified that students engaged enthusiastically with storytelling; stories highlighted moments of student-patient interactions; the value of a positive clinical facilitator-student relationship; the complexity of registered nurse-student relationships; and students from cultural and linguistic diverse backgrounds experienced feelings of isolation from staff. The simple tools of pen and paper were a powerful medium for students to reflect on their interactions with patients. Facilitating the process of storytelling provided the researcher with insight into intrinsic and extrinsic obstacles and opportunities which may impact students’ engagement with patients.

KEYWORDS:

• reflective practice
• reflective learning
• storytelling
• narrative inquiry
• linguisitic analysis
• nurse education
• clinical placement
• clinical facilitation

Acknowledgments

Thank you to the students who gave up their time to participate in this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Susan Timpani

Susan Timpani is a registered nurse and holds a master’s degree in clinical education. She is currently a PhD student, using an arts-informed methodology. Susan works as an academic and clinical facilitator at Flinders University. Susan’s clinical nursing background is primary health care with a focus on vulnerable people and communities. Susan is a Certified Instructor with the Center for Journal Therapy.

Linda Sweet

Linda Sweet is a registered nurse and midwife and is the Chair in Midwifery, Deakin University and Western Health Partnership in Melbourne, Australia. Previously she spent many years teaching the Master of Clinical Education at Flinders University, supporting health professionals to develop teaching skills. She is a Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Health Professional Educators and a Fellow of the Australian College of Midwives.

Nina Sivertsen

Nina Sivertsen is a registered nurse and Senior Lecturer and researcher at Flinders University. Nina is an Arctic Indigenous Sámi woman from Northern Norway currently living and working on Kaurna Lands in Adelaide, Australia. Nina works with community and health systems research alongside and in partnership with First Nations Peoples - contributing to restorative policy and practice. Her inter-Indigenous research is internationally acknowledged; her work is the recipient of many awards and focuses on women’s empowerment and leadership, in particular within Indigenous health, as evidenced by her partnerships in Norway, Canada and Australia.