[Sharon]

Consider how nurses communicate through stories. Share an example where you have either taught someone through storytelling or have learned through storytelling.

[Courtney]

I believe nurses teach through story telling all the time. I am currently in consolidation and whenever I do something that has a better way of doing it or is not correct than my preceptor will correct me or teach me through telling me a story of something that happened to her. I remember this one time I was using a needle to inject a palliative patient with routine hydromorphone. I did not believe the needle had the ability to retract so I went to recap the needle so that it did accidently poke myself or someone else. My preceptor corrected me and showed me that the syringe/needle I was using did in fact retract and then proceeded to tell me a story about how recapping a needle is so dangerous and how she once poked herself with a needle that she was trying to recap.

[Tara]

I feel that storytelling about previous experiences really help ensuring we avoid mistakes and use safe and effective treatment to patients. It can help one with common mishaps that are easily avoidable. An example that comes to mind is the importance of timely and correct documentation. A preceptor once shared a story on a near overdose of medication. There was an incident when the previous nurse did not correctly document that a narcotic was given just prior to shift change. Oncoming nurse started her shift and proceeded to dispense narcotic to a patient that just received it, this lead to being double dosed and the resident started to become distressed with difficulty breathing, SOB. Thankfully this was not fatal and resident recovered. The previous nurse, signed the narc binder but did no.t chart off on patients profile. Her big take home was to always check MAR and Narc signature book before administering.

[Patrice]

During my hospital clinical placement, my preceptor often used storytelling about her past nursing experiences, as a means to guide and motivate us as nursing students. One of the stories was about medication administration, she mentioned that, on a hectic day she was administering medication to several patients and while she was in a hurry to complete her tasks, with confidence, thinking that she knew the medication well that was to be administered to one patient, she quickly glanced at the medication and dosage without double checking. After administering the medication, she realized the wrong dosage was given to the patient. She immediately reported the error; the patient was assessed and closely monitored. This was a personal story to emphasize to us as nursing students, the importance of double-checking medication orders and ensuring the accuracy of all orders.

[Brittany]

My preceptor liked to use “story telling” as a means of teaching. Most of these stories she would not give me the end result but have me critically think and come up with the end result before telling me what happened. This allowed for things to stick, ensuring not to make similar mistakes and of course always use my critical thinking skills. This is definitely something I will carry forward as a leader in nursing.

[Ayotunde]

I got to learn about learning through storytelling in college during the TRC course, this to me is a unique way of learning so I adopted this method and luckily I also meet people who do this so I guess it is something familiar around us.
I do this often when guiding my children on what to do and how to especially when I read things in the news or share my experience in my workplace from what I learned from colleagues, nurses and sometimes residents.
I discovered my eldest son is taking this part in explaining things to his siblings.

[Omono]

My preceptor during my orientation told me the importance of immediately documenting the administration of Narcotic as you administer. She told me a story of a nurse who did not document her narcotic as she gives to her residents. Unfortunately she was sick, ambulances was called to take her to the hospital. RN checking her books, finds some discrepancy. Incident reported to police. On regaining consciousness the police were by her bed to question her about the missing narcotic that were not signed for.
Lesson of this narration is sign the books as you take out the narcotic to administer to clients.

[Amber]

My preceptor was telling me a story about the importance of documentation and making sure all areas of documentation are covered. It was to do with a vaccination and the patient was scheduled to have his fourth dose. After the medication was administered, and the nurse went to complete the documentation, it turned out that the nurse who did the previous dose didn’t document the information in the patient’s file. Therefore, he was receiving his fifth dose not his fourth. The patient had to be told about the error, which could lead to a trust issue between the nurse and patient and an incident report had to be completed due to a medication error. That story has stayed with me as a reminder every time I perform a task, I make sure to document it.

[Adetutu]

In my semester 3,my mental health teacher was always demonstrating teachings with personal life experiences in story telling.
I learnt a lot through her teachings.

[Judith]

During my placement, My preceptor always emphasized the need to avoid medication errors and also told us stories about some people’s negligence. I learned a lot from the story because it was very educative.

[Adeola]

I learnt about storytelling in college during my research course. We were being taught about indigenous research. Storytelling is a unique way of knowing as the listener is invited into the storytellers’ perspective and the lived experience of the people involved in the story.

[Coleen]

Storytelling is a powerful tool in nursing education and practice. One example of teaching through storytelling is when I shared a personal experience with a new nurse to illustrate the importance of empathy in patient care. I recounted a story where I had cared for a terminally ill patient who was feeling isolated and scared. By empathizing with the patient’s emotions and actively listening to their concerns, I was able to provide comfort and support during their final days. Through this story, I emphasized the impact of compassionate care on patient outcomes and encouraged the new nurse to prioritize empathy in their practice.

[Rahmatu]

Story-telling in nursing can be in a formal or informal setting. The act of story-telling helps to provide a summary of nursing standards or principles in a more relatable form. I have been opportune in my nursing career to hear different stories that have been beneficial and helped to shape my nursing practice thus far.

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