The Nurse as the Facilitator of Patients' Narration: An Educational Intervention

Author

Petra StockmanFollow

Campus Location

Dallas Campus (Online)

Date of Award

11-2019

Document Type

DNP Project

Department

Nursing

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice

Committee Chair or Primary Advisor

Tonya Sawyer-McGee

Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor

Andrew Lumpe

Third Committee Member or Committee Reader

Catherine Garner

Abstract

More than one million resident patients live and receive care at certified long-term facilities in the United States, many of whom suffer from depressive symptoms and anxiety. Prior research recommended storytelling as a vibrant nursing intervention to assist long-term care residents in overcoming challenges and emotional pain. However, nurses frequently lack knowledge of successful planning and implementation of narrative reminiscence. This scholarly project was designed to increase nursing competence and confidence in using storytelling as a clinical tool to improve mental health in long-term care, using a quasi-experimental, nonrandomized pretest, intervention, and posttest study design. A convenience sample of 10 long-term care nurses participated in the study. A 10-item knowledge test and three Likert scales were used to measure nurse self-efficacy; data were analyzed using a paired t test and a Wilcoxon Signed Rank test. Findings showed a statistically significant increase in nurse participants’ knowledge regarding mental health concerns in residential care and storytelling’s beneficial effects as a clinical tool. In addition, participants felt significantly more confident to implement evidence-best practice in their daily bedside care and to participate in nursing research after the intervention. However, the project did not create a significant increase in interprofessional collaboration. Recommendations for nursing leadership include intensified research-based nursing education, focused collaboration with professional nursing organizations, and a corporate-wide nursing recognition program. The project added to the current body of knowledge to evidence narrative reminiscence as a powerful nursing intervention and contributed to nursing science by creating a research based practical tool for nurse-patient narrative engagement.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Stockman, Petra, "The Nurse as the Facilitator of Patients' Narration: An Educational Intervention" (2019). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 169.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/169