Whew, has it been busy around
here! Thank you for your patience with
the storytelling lull this past week!
With packing up all our belongings, moving to a brand new area, unpacking
enough to get by and celebrating our wedding anniversary, finding time to
dedicate towards creating new stories was rather difficult… not to mention how
easily distracted you can get when sitting in a room full of boxes that need to
be unpacked! But never fear, more
Nurseables tales are in the making, so you won’t have to wait for long.
In the few spare moments I did
find, I took to the time to reflect on why stories are such a effective tool in
the first place. With the ability to capture imagination, pique the interest and
illustrate important lessons, storytelling is a powerful art form. It has been used throughout the years to
preserve the history of nations and families.
It has empowered people to action and taken people through the depths of
human experiences.
We've all been there. Have you ever experienced a sense of sadness
as you drew near the end of a good story because it’s almost like saying
goodbye to a good friend? Or looked
forward to a sequel if only to see you beloved characters once again? Has a story of overcoming a struggle ever pierced
your heard and brought tears to your eyes?
Stories can be more than just
entertainment. How many of us have
learned courage from a little hobbit, love from Shakespeare or friendship from
The Secret Garden? Stories are powerful
and they can play an important role in teaching medical concepts.
That’s what inspired the
creation of Nurseables. Amidst the
daunting onslaught of information that nursing school throws your way, it’s sometimes
hard to stay afloat. Experiencing the
moment, learning from other’s experiences, learning from your own mistakes and
teaching others what you have learned all make information easier to remember
and comprehend. The idea with Nurseables
is to give tired nursing brains a break by illustrating medical concepts in a
story format. Sure, the tales can be
entertaining, but they also help remind, teach and describe some of the amazing
phenomenon that occur in the body. Some
in the nursing education community are even adopting the idea of storytelling
by encouraging their students to write blogs or keep journals about their
experiences.
But it doesn’t end there… Stories can be told to our patients too to
help make medicine a little easier to comprehend. A hospital in Brazil has the right idea. Empowering kids to understand and take part
in their fight against cancer, a hospital teamed up with comics to help kids
understand chemotherapy better through comic book heroes. Now, kids receive their “superformula”
treatment with enthusiasm, understanding that it will help to make them better
in the long run even if it doesn’t make them feel great right away.
For
a heart touching story of a hospital that has the right idea when it comes to
teaching about complex medical concepts, watch the following video:
Medical Morales to Remember:
- Storytelling has a place in nursing and patient education. Whether that’s talking about your own experiences, those you’ve helped others go through, or a creative illustration of a medical concept, stories are a powerful vehicle of communication
Additional Resources:
- 'Superformula' Turns Child Cancer Patients into Superheroes
- Nurse Together - Storytelling in Nursing Healing Profession
- Stories in the Nursing Classroom: Writing and Learning through Stories by Jeanne Sorrell
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