Patients’ stories in healthcare curricula: learning the art of healthcare practice with patients (original) (raw)

2019, Journal of Further and Higher Education

in 2018. He has a background in occupational therapy and an interest in epistemology and ethics in relation to professional and personal development. His PhD was on understanding how occupational therapy students can develop professionally through engaging in reflective discussions with their peers. His research interest is in reflective practice, healthcare education and pedagogy. Claire Job is a lecturer in adult nursing with a background in cancer and palliative care. She teaches on both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. She has a special interest in the provision of patient and public involvement in educational programmes. Dr Sally Anstey is a senior lecturer (Adult Nursing) and deputy research theme lead for the Optimising well-being in health and illness research theme at School of Healthcare Sciences, Cardiff University. She is a registered nurse (Adult Nursing) and has a clinical background. She teaches across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, specifically on the subjects of cancer, genetics, palliative and end of life care, research and ethics. Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank the patients, carers, educators and students for their participation in the oncology nursing module which inspired the writing of this paper. Patients' stories in healthcare curricula: Learning the art of healthcare practice with patients In our previous paper, we theorised that patients' stories prepare students by allowing them to reflect on their practice in the safety of the academic environment. This paper furthers this theory by arguing that when engaging with patients through storytelling, students grow epistemologically, where they develop knowledge about empathetic practice, and ontologically, where they learn to form and maintain relationships with the patients in their care. These new forms of knowing then inform practice and their professional decision making. Patients' stories galvanise students to think more deeply about their practice and their patient engagement. Through that, they develop their art of healthcare practice, becoming competent, empathetic practitioners who are constantly motivated to developing their practice.