A memory of an aesthetic experience transferred to clinical practice.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the usefulness of writing about a memory of an aesthetic experience, and then transfer the aesthetic experience to a health care situation.


METHODS
The study was accomplished at two university colleges of health sciences in Sweden. It started with student nurses (N=291) writing about a memory of an aesthetic experience. Then they transferred the aesthetic experience to a purposeful clinical practice.


RESULTS
The results showed that each student could report on a positive memory of an aesthetic experience. Embedded in each story was an aesthetic experience that was meaningful to the student. Domains of memory most frequently reported were music, work of art and nature. Themes derived from the aesthetic memory were happiness and awareness. The awareness theme comprized the value of aesthetic experiences for the patients, and for student nurses.


CONCLUSIONS
The process of writing about a memory of an aesthetic experience provided an alternative model for nursing education that could improve patient care.
Wikström
Britt-Maj
BM
The Karolinska Institute, Stockholm Sweden. britt-maj.wikstrom@hhj.hj.se
D004506:Education, Nursing / Q000379:methods; D004954:Esthetics / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory; D033262:Narration; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D013548:Sweden; D014956:Writing