Authors

  1. Smith, Mary MScN, NP

Abstract

Storytelling as a vital source of knowledge and connection in nursing.

 

Article Content

Nursing education and practice that incorporates the sharing of stories about cultural experiences can inspire nurses and students to reflect on different perspectives of health care.

  
Figure. Mary Smith... - Click to enlarge in new windowFigure. Mary Smith

As an example, I'll recount a story that resonates deeply with me. As both a member of a First Nation community located in an isolated northern area and a community health nurse, I was given an opportunity to provide care for a traditional healer in my community. He was an inspiring man who always conveyed his great wisdom in the form of poetic and spiritual stories.

 

Unfortunately, he had a serious heart condition that required surgery. He disclosed to me his mistrust of the zhaagnaash (Ojibwa word for white people) way and its surgical procedures, medicines, and treatments. Since the health representative from the same community had gone through a successful heart surgery, we rallied to encourage the traditional healer to undergo his treatment.

 

Shortly before leaving his home for the faraway city to undergo surgery, the healer came to the community health center where I worked. He told me, in his gentle, soft way of speaking, about a dream of animals leaving his heart. I felt honored that he shared his dream with me. In my interpretation of the traditional ways of our community, people are considered to be one with the land and the animals. Dreams are connections to the spirit world.

 

During the surgery, he died. I later wondered if the dream of the animals leaving his heart had been a vision of what was to come. Had I been more attentive to the meaning of the dream and more willing to explore its implications, I might have inquired more deeply into his feelings of ambivalence.

 

This dream story of the animals leaving his heart will reverberate with me forever.

 

From this experience and further exploration of First Nation cultures, I have gained more self-knowledge and strengthened my nursing practice. I've come to understand that storytelling can yield great insight and healing. I've come to reconsider with a more critical eye the assumptions of my nursing education-teachings that emphasized Western health care practices based on generalizable, evidence-based approaches.

 

I'm not saying that nurses should abandon the quantitative and evidence-based practices that we know have saved many lives. But we should also seek to balance and contextualize this approach through humbly listening to the stories of those we care for. Some of my greatest learning has come from individual client stories and from the rich meaning of their experiences. Stories from clients about their lives can have both a tangible and an intangible effect on the care we provide. A story may create an atmosphere of openness, closeness, and warmth that is both soothing and healing during the most trying times.

 

In the same way, an educator can inspire learners through storytelling. Nursing education appears to embrace individualized care that's shaped by consideration of a person's unique culture. There has been much discourse on cultural sensitivity and an increased emphasis on cultural competence and safety. What is less clear is how we actually engage with diverse and multicultural populations.

 

During my many years as an RN, an NP, and a nurse educator, I've often pondered what respect for culture in nursing care actually looks like. Since storytelling is central to many cultures, it's an excellent way to introduce and explore ethical issues and the social determinants of health with people of diverse cultural backgrounds. Through storytelling, nurses may discover ways to adapt the care they give so that it is more consistent with a client's culture and specific situation.

 

Taking the time to listen to the stories of clients and their families is a skill different from the technical skills we devote so much attention to. Perhaps someday storytelling may share the spotlight with evidence-based care.