Personal Narrative In Nursing Practice

Words: 282
Pages: 2

Listening to people’s narratives in nursing practice is a way to facilitate patient healing following an experience of adversity. Sakalys (2003) explains how the act of disclosure is a dynamic therapeutic technique as it transforms internalized emotions, thoughts and images into explicit words. This allows a person to begin reconstructing their self-image in real time, independently from the crisis that disrupted it. Rybarczyk and Bellg (as cited in Sakalys, 2003) agree with this notion, stating that “opportunity to construct personal narratives provide measurable effects for patients in decreasing anxiety, increasing relaxation, enhancing coping and improving satisfaction” (p. 232). This is the case as engagement in narrative, both by the