Clinical Narratives are nurse stories of caring. At St. Joseph Hospital, clinical narratives are submitted to the Clinical Development Council as part of the Clinical Advancement process to move up the ladder from Clinical Nurse II to Clinical Nurse III (CN III) or Clinical Nurse IV (CN IV). As each proficient (CN III) and expert (CN IV) comes before the Clinical Development Council for advancement, they read their narrative aloud and have an opportunity to answer questions. The richness of their stories are shared.
The clinical narratives are also written by New Grads during the New Grad program. These narratives are submitted to the Clinical Development Council anonymously, and as we read them, we identify themes. The themes help to define nursing practice at St. Joseph Hospital. Over the years, the themes identified have opened up dialog and changes in our practice.
The Clinical Nurse IIs (CN II) are asked to write narratives during the months of July and August. The majority of RN’s at St. Joseph Hospital are CN IIs, but we tend to get fewer narratives from the CN IIs. In an attempt to encourage the CN IIs to write their stories, we are trying something new: Clinical Narrative Mentoring sessions. We are hoping that offering encouragement and 1:1 writing assistance will help to bring forth more nurse stories to share. I suppose the motivation to write a narrative is less for the CN IIs than the rest of the nurses, and as a consequence, we are missing hearing the voice of the majority of our wonderful nurses.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
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2 comments:
Your last sentence inspired me to comment. Just as we are missing hearing the voice of the majority of our nurses, unfortunately, they are missing this wonderful opportunity for growth that occurs during the writing of a clinical narrative. Through the process of reflective practice, the writer develops critical thinking skills and ultimately improves clinical practice. Clinical narratives encourage self-reflection and create an opportunity for improving practice. On the other hand, they can also be written in a way to "brag" about something that went extremely well. Many nurses struggle with choosing a topic since there is a misconception that a clinical narrative has to be "dramatic." It is important to stress that all interactions with patients leave an impression and often times it is the little things that make the greatest difference.
This sounds difficult to to believe, but I'm sure you have not intentions to lie to us. It's amazing the quantity of hard stories doctos and nurses listen on halls of the hospitals.
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