Coloring outside the lines

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Holistic Care
• Patient Experience

Background:

• Creativity is vital for expanding nursing practice and delivering holistic care.
• This study explored student nurses' creative approaches to designing patient care.
• The research question focused on activities student nurses would include when given complete freedom in care design.

Observation:

• Forty-eight student nurses responded to a case scenario of a comatose Native American male patient.
• A total of 343 responses were collected through the "Exercise to Stretch Your Mind."
• Qualitative data analysis identified patterns in the designed nursing interventions.

Findings:

• Interventions utilized sensory modalities: physical and emotional feeling, hearing, and smelling.