[Sharon]

Do you think nurses learn by sharing stories? Have you ever shared or heard a story that had an impact on someone else or yourself? Share a story on the online discussion forum that had an impact on your nursing practice. It can be a story someone has shared with you or one you shared with others. (you may use pseudonyms to retain confidentiality).

[Melanie]

Yes, nurses learn by sharing stories. When I was in my last semester of the RPN program and we received our placements for our Consolidation/hands on practicum I was initially very disappointed to learn I had been assigned to work on the Mental Health/Inpatient Psychiatry unit. None of us had chosen to go work on that unit so in the end, the teachers drew 4 names from a hat. I admit, I had a preconceived notion or “stigma” about working on a Psychiatry unit My interest was to be in a fast paced “exciting” unit such as the ER or OR. Once I met my Preceptor, everything changed. She completely changed my way of thinking and helped me think outside the box. She took the time to teach me about the diagnoses the patients on the unit had, what their story/situation was that brought them there. She helped me gain the understanding and importance of Mental health and that it’s not something that should be swept under the rug or be “hush hush” about. It affects many people in many different ways. Some are able to control their condition, others cannot and need medication and/or hospitalization. Some are just too ill to understand their condition and are placed long term. Some are in a crisis situation and are placed on a hold for observation and treatment during a short stay. She was so caring and genuine with her patients and so invested in teaching people about mental health and what the many diagnoses are and that you can still live a very normal, healthy life with a mental health disorder. I learned so much from her and the staff and patients on that until during my placement that once I did graduate from the RPN program, my 1st job was on a Mental Health/Inpatient Psychiatry unit. I did that for 9 yrs before I made a switch to Nurse Case Management which I have been doing for 10 yrs now.

[Sandra]

That’s so awesome that you ended up working in the field you didn’t think was for you. I find we all have to appreciate the different nursing fields that there are. Some people are meant for certain areas and some aren’t. It’s nice just to hear how know that you learnt from another nurses experience and gave it a try.

[Suzanne]

I think it’s fantastic that you tried this and loved it. We often have things built up in our mind about how we think things will be in certain areas of health care when in reality each one brings its unique experience. Sometimes when we expand our mindset we realize how much we can appreciate it and bring something special to the table!

[Sandra]

Yes nurses learn by sharing stories. There was this one nurse that I had worked with in cardiac care she was very smart at knowing telemetries and everything to do with the heart. When you start on the floor you do get ECG training but in reality it’s just a lot of information in 2 days that seems like a blur so you mostly learn about it from experience. The one nurse that taught me all about how to read the telemetries was awesome she always had a story behind each rhythm on hot to notice a heart block to an a fib rhythm to anything that was just artifact. She was very inspiring in her knowledge and to this day I still thank her on teaching me her tricks and I have used the same tricks on teaching new staff when they were learning about the heart rhythms as well.

[Melanie]

Starting a position on a new unit/floor is both scary and exciting at the same time. Having someone experienced share their stories and helpful tips and knowledge is definitely a bonus! Some learn by watching others learn by doing and some learn by incorporating both. I have found that I learn something new almost every day in Nursing. Sharing with your peers or other HCP’s has huge benefits for all involved. It also makes you feel good when you know you’re helping someone else just by doing something as simple as sharing information.

[Heather]

That sounds like a great way to learn and has likely made so much difference to those learning and building their confidence and knowledge of reading ECG’s and knowing what is concerning.

[Heather]

I remember when I was finishing my RPN program years ago and I had asked to get a place in Surgery and I was so excited and then I found out that had fallen through and I was being sent to do a placement in long term care instead because the hospital didn’t have enough preceptors at that point. So I began and learned as much as I could and being a doer I was able to pass medications and complete tasks, but I wasn’t always making time to deeply do some assessments of patients and what they needed in the moment. My preceptor explained to me that at times, you need to think about what the patient is going through, all the losses of health and independence and how you would feel. This stuck with me through years and I find that feeling is not everything but it has an important place in providing care.

[Andrea]

Yes nurses learn through sharing stories. We also can teach with them. There is one story I find myself sharing with both other nurses and with patients and their families as well.
As a new nursing graduate I had received a bursary to further my education. I decided to use it for a course on palliative care as I was still uncertain and uncomfortable in this area of nursing. On the first night of class there were 30 people from all different, healthcare and non healthcare backgrounds, in attendance. The first thing we were asked to do was to write down how we wanted to die. Wow! I had never thought about how I would prefer to die. I quickly wrote my answer, which I thought everyone else would share, to want to die in my sleep. Boy was I surprised when we learn that out of 30 people we had 18 different answers. Everything from dying old in bed with all the family around, to just dropping dead on the dance floor while out at a party having fun. It was then I realized how individualized death could be.
Sometimes I feel this story can not only help patients to realize it is OK to share how they would like their death to go, but also helps family members to realize that it is OK if the patient’s ideas are different than their own. This is the patient’s journey.
The main goal is to get them talking. Stories are an effective way to do this as they feel they are sharing there current experience with others who have gone before.

[Suzanne]

I do believe nurses learn from sharing stories. I think it’s important to talk and reflect about things that we have experienced so that our peers can also put some thought into any red flags or issues that come up. One story that sticks with me is the daughter of a patient who committed suicide. The patient had been in to see her family doctor and said that everything was fine and it was left at that. The next day she ended her life. From there on out I made it a priority to learn more about mental health and to really focus on what the patient was saying non verbally as well as learn some valuable resources to pass along to family members if they needed support for their loved one.

[Maame]

Suzanne thanks for sharing this story, mental health is very important and I feel as humans we get caught up in the moment and forget about our mental health.

[Maame]

I believe nurses definitely learn by sharing stories and I am a prime example. I recall a time when I just started in nursing and the nurse that was training me shared a story on the importance of documentation. She explained how during her shift one of the resident’s had a fall and sustained a hip fracture, and how she documented the incident like her life depended on it. When she made that comment I didn’t understand until she further explained that management ended up calling her investaging the incident due to the resident having a hip fracture. The moral of the story is make sure you document, document, document. Proper documentation is imperative because you know when you will need to depend on it .

[Taraneh]

I think it’s easier for nurses to remember key concepts by learning from other experiences that others have witnessed or been a part of. I have learned a lot from speaking with senior nurses on every unit that I have been on, as well passing on my own learning experiences to new grads and students.

My story that I learned a lot from happened when I was within my first month after graduating. I had a bowel obstruction patient that was sent to the floor from emergency in “stable condition”, that was not so stable. The initial vitals I took said this patient was satting around 64% – oxygen was applied at this time and I let my charge nurse know. The patient was asymptomatic upon this initial assessment. Continuing through the shift, following physician orders, trying to keep the patient comfortable and having a gut feeling that something was just off with this patient, the patient continued to decline but in a very subtle way. The patient continued to voice concerns of what I can only describe as “impending sense of doom”.
Long story short, the patient ended up arresting, a code was called and we were able to bring the patient back. But my moral of the story is 1) always trust your gut and 2) never ignore a patients feelings of doom…

[Author]

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