Unleashing the healing power of storytelling.

"Tell me a story."

That simple request can transform knowledge from a set of dry, dusty facts to something alive. Storytelling is a powerful tool for learning.

But somewhere along the way, we often forget about storytelling's ability to teach, to heal and to make connections. Nowhere is this more important than in health care.

Misty Schwartz and Amy Abbott are working to reclaim storytelling's power in their nursing classes at Creighton University NE. The duo, who use the practice as a teaching and learning tool in the classroom as well as in clinical settings, spoke of their experiences at the University of Nebraska's Women in Educational Leadership conference held in Lincoln in October.

Schwartz, an assistant clinical professor who teaches medical, surgical and emergency room nursing and Abbott, an assistant professor of critical care nursing, were two of five acute care nurses at Creighton. Along with five community nursing faculty, they received a Helene Fuld Trust Grant to create a model for teaching health care management in community-based settings.

Their model featured seminars, clinical experiences and individual meetings with community nurses who mentored the acute care faculty. Students did their clinical work in the community accompanied by nurses from the Visiting Nurse Association and consciously applied storytelling techniques learned in class to their patients.

The grant had two goals. One was to cross-educate acute care faculty on how to provide holistic care to patients who were transitioning between an acute care setting like a hospital and the community. The focus was on addressing the needs of the underserved and vulnerable.