Narrative Nursing - What Does it Mean to be a Professional Nurse

A nursing narrative note is a type of nursing documentation used to provide clear, detailed information about a patient. A narrative note is written in paragraph form and tells a story, if you will, about the patient, the care being received, response to treatment, and any interventions or education provided. Narrative notes allow for more detailed descriptions of health conditions and concerns, which means you have greater freedom when it comes to painting a representative picture of a patient’s health. You can communicate their thoughts and feelings, as well as your own professional judgments.

The format of the book will cover the Narrative Nursing workshop format that has been instituted over the years with nurses from a range of organizations. Each nurse will follow an outline of storytelling and select one meaningful nurse-patient, nurse-colleague, or nurse-leader encounter to present as a story to share with other nurses. Each chapter contains stories from nurses at all levels of development, from the novice (student nurse) to the expert nurse and nurse leader.

The overall purpose is to illustrate, in a structured format, the impact of nursing care provided to individuals, families, and communities. The storytelling process that will be used includes the key techniques of storytelling: namely, engaging the audience, describing the scene, building tension, focusing on what is important, keeping the flow logical, and making the story conclusive, particularly in light of the lessons learned from the story. Each story will be accompanied by analysis and commentary from the two primary authors, remarking on the meaningfulness of the story, lessons learned, and lessons for other nurses.

Each story will be unique, but there will be conclusions drawn at the end of each story, and there will also be an introductory chapter and a final chapter written by the primary authors to introduce the value of story-telling and in the final chapter to synthesize lessons learned. A main feature of this book is that the stories will allow the reader to identify personal and professional moral and ethical principles confronted by clinical nurses and nurse leaders at all levels. The book also ties the narratives to sample NCLEX-RN questions to help the student reader use the narrative framework as they prepare for the licensure exam.

Joyce J. Fitzpatrick, PhD, MBA, RN, FAAN, FNAP, FAANP(H), is the Director of the Marian K. Shaughnessy Nurse Leadership Academy and the Elizabeth Brooks Ford Professor of Nursing at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in Cleveland, Ohio, where she was Dean from 1982 through 1997. She is also a Distinguished University Professor at CWRU. She earned a BSN from Georgetown University, an MS in Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing from the Ohio State University, a PhD in Nursing from New York University, and an MBA from CWRU. In 1990, Dr Fitzpatrick received an honorary doctorate, Doctor of Humane Letters, from Georgetown University. In 2011, she received an honorary doctorate, Doctor of Humane Letters, from the Frontier University of Nursing, and in 2020, she was appointed a Distinguished University Professor at CWRU.

Dr Fitzpatrick is widely published in nursing and healthcare literature, with over 400 publications, including more than 85 books. She has received the AJN Book of the Year Award 22 times. She served as Co-editor of the Annual Review of Nursing Research series, vols. 1–26. She is the Editor of the classic Encyclopedia of Nursing Research, now in its 4th edition, and Co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Nursing Education. In 2021, with Dr Mary Beth Modic, she published a children’s book titled Luminaries of the Past: Stories of Fifty Extraordinary Nurses.

Peter Stoffan, DNP, MPA, RN, CCRN, NEA-BC, CPXP, is a Nurse Leader currently residing in the New York City Greater Metro Area. Prior to Nursing, Peter earned his first degree from Indiana University in Musical Theatre. After performing for multiple years in New York City and around the country, he decided to go back to school for Nursing at New York University. Peter loves the leadership role both on and off stage and enjoys blending the two dynamic talents in healthcare and leadership. After earning a Master’s in Public Administration degree from New York University, he earned his Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree at Case Western Reserve University’s Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. His scholarly work focuses on the connection between hospital and environmental attributes and the health of nurse leaders.

He has served in various leadership roles in healthcare organizations in the New York City Greater Metro Area and is adjunct faculty at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. Peter is also a published author of Tommy the Nurse – a children’s book that highlights nursing and the importance of following one’s own passions. Additionally, Dr Stoffan has written and edited book chapters, has articles published in the Gastroenterology Nursing Journal, Nursing Management Journal, and the American Nurse Journal, and is a contributing author for the book Luminaries of the Past: Stories of Fifty Extraordinary Nurses, written by Dr Joyce Fitzpatrick and Dr Mary Beth Modic.