Reflections on caring narratives: enhancing patterns of knowing
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 28, 2026

Using Visual and Narrative Methods to Achieve Fair Process in Clinical Care
Published on: February 16, 2011
1Temple University College of Allied Health, Department of Nursing, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to provide graduate students with the opportunity to enrich their esthetic knowing and acquire the meaning of caring in their practice by reflecting on their caring narratives. Content analysis examining for context, process, and fulfillment was used to analyze 68 caring encounters written by five classes of graduate nursing students over five semesters of course work. This article focuses on the value of reflection in knowing and the fulfillment identified by the students through the reflective process. Student fulfillment included reflecting on the need to care for self, knowing that emotional attachment can be dangerous, recognizing caring as a moral responsibility, attending to caring teaches one about caring, and reflecting on caring encounters engages one in defining caring. It is concluded that graduate nursing students can enhance multiple ways of knowing and their understanding of caring through the process of reflecting on caring encounters.
Related Concept Videos
Patient-centered Care
Critical Thinking II
Critical Thinking I
Techniques of therapeutic communication I: Active Listening, Sharing Observations, Validation, and Using Touch
Therapeutic communication is not the same as social interaction. Social interaction has no goal or purpose and consists of casual information sharing, whereas therapeutic communication has a plan or purpose for the conversation. Therapeutic...
The Sense of Self: Reflected Self-Appraisal and Social Comparison
Self Within Cultural Contexts

