Creating stories for learning about the neonatal care experience through the eyes of student nurses: An interpretive, narrative study.

BACKGROUND

Storytelling is an increasingly well recognised and valued platform to learn about the human experience within healthcare. Little is known however about how stories can enhance understanding in neonatal care, a specialised field offering rich opportunities for learning. This study focuses on the creation of stories based on the experiences of student nurses to inform teaching and learning strategies in the neonatal field.

OBJECTIVES

The study aimed to create stories from the narratives of student nurses working within the neonatal field and identify what key themes for learning emerged in order to develop a storytelling resource to share experiences with their peers.

DESIGN

An interpretive, constructivist approach was used to collect, analyse and create stories from student nurse's experiences, in line with narrative inquiry.

PARTICIPANTS

Six pre-registration children's nursing students were selected by purposive sampling.

SETTINGS

Interviews were undertaken within six weeks following placement completion in an agreed location.

METHODS

Narratives were obtained by semi-structured interviews. Narrative analysis and core story creation was undertaken to construct stories and key learning themes emerged which provided the pedagogical basis for subsequent digital resource development.

FINDINGS

Key themes emerged relating to the insight and observances of student nurses and the neonatal journey they had experienced, including the nature of neonatal care, experiences of the neonate and parents, the environment and their own learning transition. Preliminary peer evaluation of the storytelling resource revealed storytelling as an interesting and novel approach to teaching & learning, learning from ones' peers, preparation for practice and a valuable insight into a new specialist area.

CONCLUSIONS

The study has value to teaching and learning by enabling an appreciation of how narrative can be used to portray the experiences of learners. Findings also support an approach to analysing narrative to create stories for learning and inform subsequent digital resource development.