Using Aesthetic Knowing to Teach Diversity of the Chronic Illness Experience to Nursing Students

Abstract

This article determines the effectiveness of incorporating an aesthetic project into a nursing course in facilitating nursing students' understanding of patients'experiences with chronic illness. From fall 1999 through spring 2002, the authors collected data from 136 final-semester nursing students who were providing case management to chronically ill patients as part of their course work. Students engaged their patients in sharing the meaning of living with a chronic illness through any method the patient chose (poetry, song, drawing, etc). All students presented results in class and completed an evaluation questionnaire about the project. Of the students, 72.4% indicated that the project benefited their patients in some way and 55.6% stated that their nursing care changed because of what they discovered through the project; 68% also reported that the project changed them in some way. Nurses' holistic understanding of chronic illness can make their care more effective and satisfying.