Narrative care: Unpacking pandemic paradoxes

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Sociology
• Public Health Communication

Background:

• Dominant public health narratives during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emphasized physical distancing, shared experience, and a return to normalcy.
• These narratives created paradoxes for healthcare professionals, particularly nurses, in their everyday lives and caregiving roles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the complexities arising from the collision of dominant COVID-19 narratives with the lived experiences of nurses.
• To explore three specific paradoxes: caring through distance, togetherness erasing inequities, and the possibility of returning to normal.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative inquiry drawing on the authors' experiences as nurses, educators, and women.
• Case examples of caring for an older adult (Ingrid) and a man with multiple disabilities (Matthew) are used to illustrate the paradoxes.

Main Results:

• The dominant narratives generated paradoxes, including learning to care by creating physical distance, a false sense of togetherness that obscured inequities, and the unlikelihood of a simple return to normal.
• Narrative care is presented as a counterstory to dominant narratives, enabling individuals to live within these paradoxes.

Conclusions:

• Narrative care, through attention to embodiment, liminality, and imagination, facilitates the creation of forward-looking stories.
• Understanding narrative care within these paradoxes offers a more nuanced perspective on its embodiment in personal and professional lives.