Storytelling: a holistic foundation for genetic nursing

The article discusses the need for a paradigm shift in how genetic nurses think about genetic information and genetic testing. It conceptualizes a theoretical model to depict the relationships among storytelling, holism, and genetic nursing practice. Four themes are discussed to explain why storytelling is necessary for clinical genetics: knowing the patient as a whole person, honoring the preciousness of personhood and the essence of humanness, uncovering power imbalances that inhere in therapeutic relationships, and listening to people's values and beliefs that affect decision making. The benefit of storytelling for developing and disseminating knowledge in genetic nursing is examined.