Professional caregivers report that journaling in nursing is one of those activities that reduces stress by providing quiet time for reflection. Also mentioned is the sense of getting back in touch with oneself as insights are created on the page. Writing does have a way of informing and illuminating what can seem to be a blur of experience for all of us, in whatever role we find ourselves.
As a nurse, telling a story to a patient or a family develops empathy and creates connectedness. But for that story to really help others, you need to find a way to explain the significance of your story.
There are key reasons for moving your notes in a journal to story format. vRemember, your story can be short; all it may take is a few sentences to assist someone else in thinking about their experience.
Journaling encourages us to be free thinking and to allow thoughts to fall on the page in whatever way they fall. It is an outpouring of our souls, our thoughts, along with observations and feelings of the moment. By its very nature, journaling moves this way and that without the “shape” of a story.
Storytelling has a shape intended to provide others with some sort of roadmap. It has a more conscious plan to it with events laid out to provide interest, intrigue, and sometimes advice. Helping others by sharing your thoughts/insights means that your journaling needs to become more story like.
Here’s how I shape my random thoughts into something others might reflect on and use. As nurses, you are in a key position to share your significant stories and to encourage others to share theirs. My stories are not very long but events are altered to capture interest and significance.
First, I draw a time line of some event, incident, or issue. I physically draw a line on a piece of paper and then along that line list in chronological order the sequence of events – a “this happened…then that happened” approach. You can pull such events right from your journal.
Second, I review the sequence and try to pinpoint a key idea or event, something that I or someone else did that made all the difference to the outcome of the situation. For example, when I was a caregiver for my mother, the sequence of events were the following:
Mom is weak and tired.
Mom is diagnosed with bone cancer.
Mom is treated with chemo and radiation.
There is little improvement.
The family and Mom realize that keeping her comfortable is the key care we can provide.
Mom is eager to talk about her life and to reconnect with friends and family.
Dad is averse to visitors.
My brother and I strategize ways to honor both parents’ values.
We develop a strategy to get Dad out of the house before visitors arrive.
The plan, for the most part, works.
If I were to tell this story in chronological sequence, it might be somewhat interesting, but if I select either “Mom is eager to talk about her life” or “ways to honor both our parents” as a beginning to the story, I have a better chance of making this meaningful to others. I can focus on the “life review and legacy” aspect or “the need to honor your parents’ values” as the central theme of the story.
I encourage you to try this technique right now. If you are already into journaling, turn to a few pages and draw your timeline from the events listed. If you are not keeping a nurse journal, write a series of events as in my example and then select the key piece of the events that give the story significance.
As nurses, you can help patients and their families with this technique – helping them to find the significance in each day’s events. The sheer act of helping others with storytelling or journaling in nursing will also empower you! Explaining “how” you made it through or helping someone else with the same gives strength and insight to everyone.