BACKGROUND: Stories are vital to understanding and creating meaning related to illness experiences. METHOD: An innovative learning strategy was designed and implemented to highlight the role of narrative and empirical ways of knowing when developing collaborative relationships with patients and their families. Students engaged in developing nursing assessments, as well as in the creative process of writing patient stories, to improve their understanding of human experiences of illness. RESULTS: Through comparing empirical and narrative data, students increased their awareness of different ways of knowing and the importance of stories to the construction of the meaning of illness. CONCLUSION: Students' reflective feedback indicated a shift in perception toward the inclusion of storied knowing within relational nursing practice. [J Nurs Educ. 2016;55(12):711-714.]. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.
BACKGROUND: Stories are vital to understanding and creating meaning related to illness experiences. METHOD: An innovative learning strategy was designed and implemented to highlight the role of narrative and empirical ways of knowing when developing collaborative relationships with patients and their families. Students engaged in developing nursing assessments, as well as in the creative process of writing patient stories, to improve their understanding of human experiences of illness. RESULTS: Through comparing empirical and narrative data, students increased their awareness of different ways of knowing and the importance of stories to the construction of the meaning of illness. CONCLUSION: Students' reflective feedback indicated a shift in perception toward the inclusion of storied knowing within relational nursing practice. [J Nurs Educ. 2016;55(12):711-714.]. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.